India’s power grid’s carbon intensity has declined by 9% in last 10 yrs: Govt

New Delhi: With increase in the share of renewable energy generation, the average carbon intensity of the power grid has reduced by 9 percent in the last 10 years, the Lok Sabha was told on Thursday. Minister of State (MoS) for Power Shripad Yesso Naik told the Lower House of Parliament in a written response, “… due to the increasing share of Renewable Energy in the Grid, the carbon intensity of the grid is reducing. There is a significant decrease of about 9 percent in the average carbon emission factor of the grid electricity in India from 2013-14 to 2022-23.”

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The share of renewable energy generation in total power generation has went up from around 5 percent in 2013-14 to 12 percent in 2022-23. This had led to a progressive decline in the carbon intensity of the power grid.

Carbon emissions of India’s power grid

According to the figures shared by the minister in the Lok Sabha, carbon emissions from coal-based power generation went up from 897.28 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) in 2018-19 to 943.04 MMT in 2022-23. During this period, coal-based power generation increased from 987.68 Billion Units (BU) to 1043.83 BU. “With the rapid expansion and growth of the Indian economy, the demand for electricity is also witnessing an unprecedented growth. The electricity demand in India has witnessed a growth of around 9 percent for the years 2021-22 and 2022-23. The total emissions have increased commensurate with the increase in generation of the electricity,” said the minister.

“To reduce the dependency on coal-based thermal power plants, the Government of India has planned to augment non-fossil fuel-based installed electricity generation capacity. India in its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) stands committed to achieve about 50 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. At present India has already achieved 45.5 percent Installed Capacity from non-fossil fuel-based resources,” said the minister. However, even as the share of renewable energy capacity has increased significantly, the share of renewable power generation has been more or less static for the last three years at 12 percent.

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