India is set to overtake China in terms of population. Its economy is taking off as benefits spread to rural areas. Progress often comes at a cost. In India’s case, it is also the world’s fastest growing polluter. The primary cause is 188,487 megawatts of installed coal-powered generation. This is 59% of the country’s total. Clearly, India needs more renewable alternatives. The nation’s Energy and Resources Institute TERI published a report on Monday. This confirmed that batteries are part of the Indian power solution.
The Challenges India Faces When Reaching Out
India may not have to build more coal power stations after 2025 if it increases its use of renewable power. After this happens, TERI believes carbon dioxide emissions will fall by 10% by 2030. However, India must first overcome the challenge of coal being the cheaper alternative. Hence, part of the Indian power solution lies in lowering the cost of grid storage batteries.
Of course, the bigger picture involves lowering the costs of the renewables themselves. The overall cost would need to halve by 2025 for India to reach out successfully to a coal-free future. The director-general of TERI says, “This is perfectly achievable if government gets its policies right. India’s power sector could be coal-free by 2050.”
How Indian Power Solution Depends on Battery Research
The solution may lie in moving away from expensive lithium-ion batteries, at least in their current form. Yesterday we reported on a cheaper method using seawater as the electrolyte and sodium as the anode. India could have the biggest solar farm in the world. But if a large cloud hung over it, the grid would need reserve power in batteries for the system to work. And work indeed it shall someday. The Indian power solution could be just around the corner.
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