India is set to launch a nationwide carbon capture and storage program with government incentives of up to 100% of funding for some projects as it aims to reduce emissions from its huge coal power fleet which continues to rise.
“These incentives will help industries adopt carbon capture technologies and integrate them with coal-based energy systems,” Rajnath Ram, adviser for energy at the government policy think tank, NITI Aayog, said at a coal summit, as carried by Reuters.
Coal-fired power generation and capacity installations in India continue to rise and coal remains a key pillar of India’s electricity mix with about 60% share of total power output.
Coal will still be a key part of India’s power system for the next two decades, Ram said at the summit.
“We cannot be subjective about coal. The question is how sustainably we can use it,” the official noted.
One way is to install carbon capture and storage systems to reduce emissions from burning the most polluting fossil fuel.
India’s annual installations of new coal-fired power capacity hit 4 gigawatts (GW) in 2024, flat on the five-year high of 2023 and the highest level since 2019, according to official government figures.
India plans to add as much as 90 GW of coal capacity by 2032 as it looks to meet its surging power demand with reliable baseload electricity.
Despite booming renewable capacity additions, India continues to rely on coal to meet most of its power demand as authorities also look to avoid blackouts in cases of severe heat waves.
In July, India boasted achieving five years ahead of schedule its target to have 50% of its installed electricity capacity coming from non-fossil fuel sources.
This installed capacity, however, does not mean renewable power generation will soon replace coal in India, especially if grid constraints and battery and transmission delays persist.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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