The Union Power & New and Renewable Energy Minister R. K. Singh on 20th June said that India would not hesitate to increase its thermal power generation capacity to meet the country’s growing energy requirements.
He addressed a couple of media events in New Delhi where he underscored the government’s commitment to strike a balance between renewable energy expansion and the necessity of thermal power. He emphasized that the government has been relentlessly working on ensuring energy access, enhancing energy efficiency, promoting energy sustainability, and ensuring energy security as the four pillars guiding India’s energy sector trajectory. While keeping in mind the high costs associated with renewable energy storage, RK Singh highlighted the government’s efforts to encourage the development of Pumped Hydro Power Projects. These projects are expected to play a significant role in balancing renewable energy intermittency
“Huge capacities of Pumped Hydro projects are coming up. At the same time, we need to build batteries for grid storage. We need to have another PLI scheme for grid scale storage, so that we can augment capacity and have round-the-clock renewable energy. We will keep adding storage to ensure that demand goes up and investment keeps happening,“ he added. It was highlighted that the potential for diversification of supply chains using technologies like sodium-ion batteries and the export of around 50 GW of battery storage capacity.
