The consultation deliberated on pathways for lowering carbon intensity in the power sector in Jharkhand
The Task Force on Sustainable Just Transition, Government of Jharkhand and its technical partner Centre for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) jointly organised a stakeholder consultation ‘Decarbonising the Power Sector in Jharkhand’ in the city. The main objective of the consultation was to deliberate on the pathways to decarbonise the power and electricity sector to augment the sustainable energy transition and net-zero scenario in the state. The consultation was attended by the leading power generation companies from government and private sectors, public sector undertakings, think-tanks and clean energy solutions providers from the state.
Outlining the broader goals of the consultation, Mr A.K. Rastogi (IFS Retd.), Chairman of Task Force on Sustainable Just Transition said that “This consultation is part of a series with key segments and industries to know the perspectives of the stakeholders involved and explore the sustainable pathways for the sectors. Electricity is regarded as the lifeline of industrial growth and socio-economic development. One of the challenges of decarbonising the power sector is sufficiently reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while ensuring reliability and affordability of electricity generation. it is crucial to identify and explore potential opportunities for integrating decarbonising strategies through a holistic approach. The energy sector needs to adopt sustainability based operations, innovative measures like green hydrogen ecosystem and carbon capture, utilisation & storage facilities, and a mix of zero and lower-carbon generation capability for augmenting the process of energy security in the state.’
Decarbonising the power sector broadly means reducing its carbon intensity which can be done through reducing the emissions per unit of electricity generated. In Jharkhand, the power generation scenario indicates heavy reliance on the thermal power segment which is significantly high at 93.5%, whereas hydro and solar energy sources contribute roughly about 4.8% and 2.25% respectively. As Jharkhand is largely an industrialised state, the industry sector is the primary consumer of electricity, accounting for approximately 67%, followed by the domestic sector at 23.4%, and the transport sector at 3.7%.
Emphasising the cleaner energy transition in the sector, Mr. Ramapati Kumar, CEO of CEED said, ‘To offset the climate impacts and moving towards a sustainable development approach, the state needs to tilt its energy mix in favour of renewables. Decarbonisation can be achieved by increasing the share of low-carbon energy sources and a corresponding reduction in the use of fossil fuels. The obligated entities must follow the renewable purchase obligations (RPO) trajectory to promote generation and consumption of renewable energy in the state. The decarbonisation process requires hand-holding support, incentives and an enabling framework for the existing and prospective players to adopt measures on lowering carbon intensity and encouraging them fir cleaner options to contribute to a sustainable growth trajectory in the state.’’
The technical session mooted key ideas and solutions through engagement of experts and industry representatives. The key pointers that presented were; continued substitution of lower-emission power sources; improvements in end-use efficiency; improved grid flexibility and storage; the use of modern infrastructure like carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), green hydrogen ecosystem and developing short and long-term pathways for the sector.
The consultation witnessed participation of senior officials of PSUs and private companies such as National Thermal Corporation, Tata Power, Damodar Valley Corporation, Tenughat Vidyut Nigam Limited, Usha Martin, Inland Power Ltd, Gracim, ACC, Ranchi Partners Consultants and clean energy companies from the state.