'India's progress in renewable energy tremendous hindrances more technical than actual'

New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) While India's progress in the renewable-energy sector has been "tremendous", the hindrances in large-scale implementation of solutions are more "technical than actual", a top government official said on Wednesday.
    Talking to PTI Videos, Suman Chandra, Director at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said there are technical problems of transmission not having kept pace with the solar and wind deployment, and that the government is solving it.
    "Our progress has been tremendous. We sit at a capacity of 250 gigawatts and we are the third-largest deployer of renewable energy. Hindrances are more technical than actual. We have technical problems of transmission not having kept pace with the solar and wind deployment, and that is being solved as we go forward," Chandra told PTI on the sidelines of the Responsible Renewable Energy Summit held here on Wednesday.
    "The government is addressing system-level interventions that require grid flexibilisation and battery-storage deployment -- solutions exist and are being deployed as we move forward," she said.
    Asked about the ongoing conflict in West Asia and its impact on India's energy sector, Chandra noted that solutions like transmission and storage will determine the country's future.
    "Every crisis presents an opportunity. As the geopolitical grip tightens, we have the sun shining over us all the time. Currently, the transmission is lacking in absorption of that capacity by the grid. Therefore, solutions like transmission and storage will determine our future, and we are at it," she said.
    Managing Director at Forum for the Future, Anna Biswas, emphasised that while more large companies seek to purchase renewable energy, they recognise that not all renewables are created equal and do not want to buy energy that causes ecological harm or conflicts with local communities.
    "Companies want to actually ensure that their renewable energy does better than just being low carbon. So the renewable energy procurement toolkit launched at the summit is for those buyers and it guides them through the procurement process at each stage of the action that they take as procurers," Biswas told PTI.
    Speaking about scaling up responsible renewable energy, she said it relies on several different stakeholders taking action and that it is a systemic issue.
    Biswas highlighted that developers not only need to practise this responsibility in their day-to-day operating procedures, but also need to be incentivised for doing so.
    "The policy environment needs to encourage responsible renewable energy and maybe auctions should reward that responsible practice. Likewise, we also need the capacity and the skills building. There are lots of different ways in which this could happen," she said.
    The Responsible Renewable Energy Summit 2026, convened by the Responsible Energy Initiative (REI) India at the India Habitat Centre here on Wednesday, is a cross-sector forum that aims to bridge the gap between ambition and responsible execution in India's renewable-energy transition.
    Underscoring that India's energy future will be entirely renewable energy-based, Bharath Jairaj, who leads WRI India's energy programme, said scaling up responsible energy use is only a matter of figuring out how to do it and how soon it can be done.
    "India's energy future is going to be entirely renewable energy-based. So it is very important that we get it done right. Renewable energy targets in India are very ambitious. We have a whole series of projects that are at various stages of deployment. And it has in the past had unintended consequences in terms of land, water, other natural systems and so on," Jairaj told PTI.
    He said the REI summit aims to shift from the notion of principles to actual practices.
    "What we are hoping with this summit is that we move from the principles, where we have all agreed that we should avoid the environmental and social impacts, to finding synergies. Not just acknowledging and allowing trade-offs, but really looking for more synergies by which communities, their interests, as well as nature, forests and lands are protected," the WRI India representative said.
    The point of responsible renewable energy is that before we reach the targets set by the government, being responsible is essential, according to Jiwesh Nandan, representative of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
    "As per the NITI Aayog Energy Outlook, by 2047, we will be able to achieve 85 per cent of installed capacity from renewable sources and 67 per cent of electricity generation. The point of responsible renewable energy is that before we reach these targets, we have to be responsible," the TERI representative told PTI.
    "Otherwise, in renewable energy, there are installations that require a lot of land and operating them requires significant amounts of water. Then, at the end of the plant's life, how do you dispose it of? All these factors are part of responsible renewable energy," he said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)