Feature Article

With climate talks inching along, gains in energy efficiency could slow the rise in emissions. (Editorial)

State aims to have same amount of solar as is now installed in all of India by 2014

3,000 MW of solar energy to be added in second phase of national solar mission. Off-grid solar applications and grid-connected rooftop panels will be given more importance in the second phase of the ongoing Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). Started in early 2010, the mission is a flagship programme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to promote solar energy in the country. The government plans to add 3,000 MW of solar power in the second batch of JNNSM which aims to infuse 20 GW of solar energy by 2017.

Dimming prospects for solar energy have caught up with a massive renewable-energy project planned for the Sahara Desert. By 2050, according to its backers, DESERTEC, a network of solar plants and other renewable sources scattered across North Africa and the Middle East, could generate more than 125 gigawatts of power that could be used locally or delivered to Europe through high-voltage direct-current cables beneath the Mediterranean Sea.

Because of its fluctuating nature, the feed-in of renewable energy sources into low-voltage distribution grids complicates the balancing of demand and supply. This carries the risk of grid instabilities causing damage to electronic devices and power outages, which eventually lead to deadweight losses. In principle, the problems arising from fluctuating feed-in can be solved by increasing demand elasticity or decoupling generation and consumption; for the first, an advanced metering infrastructure and, for the second, decentralized electricity storage are considered core enablers.

There are lessons to be learnt from Japan, given the dilemma it finds itself in. Should it continue running its 50 nuclear power plants or do away with them within a specific time frame? Opinions, after the Fukushima disaster, are sharply divided. The latest attempt by the Japanese government to chalk out a roadmap to end its dependence on nuclear energy has only led to more confusion. Once you are in the thick of a nuclear programme—Japan derived 30 per cent of its electricity from nuclear energy—exit options become more than difficult.