ENERGY TRANSITION – ENVIRONMENT
News: Seeing India’s
energy transition through its States
What is in the news?
●
India can achieve its
energy transition only through the support of states.
1. Diverse energy sources:
●
States with different
energy sources can take different approaches to set the target and achieve the
target.
●
So, States could also be
roadblocks to national goals, particularly when the goals are perceived to be
misaligned with State priorities.
●
Eg.
Rajasthan has set a target to achieve its renewable energy through solar power,
while Tamil Nadu has an approach to achieve through wind power.
2. Different level of development:
●
In India there is an
unequal development between states. Underdeveloped states need to be given
better financial and technological support.
●
States
like Arunachal Pradesh are bestowed with hydrological energy but it doesn’t
have financial and technological power to take the benefits.
3. States are implementers:
●
While the Centre may set
goals, and use carrots and sticks to help achieve them, the realization of
these goals often depends on how they are aligned with State priorities and
capabilities as states are the implementing agencies.
4. State level addressal of legacy issues:
●
The legacy issues in the
electricity sector, such as high losses, unreliable supply and service quality,
if left addressed, could be exacerbated by the transition.
5. Innovative approaches by the states:
●
States as laboratories of
policy innovations have been instrumental to India’s energy transition.
●
For
example, early initiatives by Gujarat and Rajasthan on solar, and Maharashtra
and Tamil Nadu on wind energy technologies, have contributed significantly to
renewable energy uptake at the national level.
6. Better understanding of local factors:
●
State governments have a
better understanding of their local energy needs and constraints. They can
develop tailor-made energy strategies that suit their specific requirements,
making the energy transition more effective and efficient.
Why is a national level approach necessary?
1. Narrow concentration of sources:
●
Renewable energy
installations have been majorly concentrated (up to 78% according to MNRE) only
in a few states—Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and
Andhra Pradesh.
2. Acquiring from the potential region:
●
Solar energy can be taken
from certain states while non solar can be taken from other states. Acquiring
solar energy is easy; So a central
approach by the government to identify the regions to acquire more energy is
necessary.
3. Policy Consistency:
●
A unified national energy
policy provides consistency and clarity to stakeholders, including investors,
developers, and consumers. It ensures that there are no conflicting regulations
or incentives between different states.
4. Infrastructure Development:
●
National-level planning
can facilitate the development of necessary infrastructure for energy
transition, such as inter-state transmission lines, energy storage facilities,
and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Institutional coordination:
●
States should update the State Action Plans on Climate Change,
should set up State-level steering committees for energy transitions, and
regular meetings of the Central and state energy ministers should be done.
2. Importance to process not outcomes:
●
Central agencies have
also developed multiple indexes that rank States on different aspects of energy
transition. While important, these efforts primarily focus on outcomes. We need
to complement this with analysis of State-level preparedness for energy
transition.
3. Voluntary action of states:
●
Electricity is ultimately
a concurrent subject and despite the national focus, each state has to come
forward and devise its own plan and road map to meet the 2030 clean energy
goals.
4. Identification of potential sites:
●
Central government should
give technical and financial assistance
to the states to implement the national targets by carving out unique state
wise targets.
5. Setting up federal institution:
●
A federal energy
transition body with autonomous power can be setup by the government to set the
energy transition targets both state wise and overall, monitoring the progress
constantly.