AsiaElec: India to halt new coal power plant construction for at least five years

Sources in India say that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not accept any new coal power plant proposals for a period of at least five years as the nation makes moves to focus on boosting its renewables installations.

In large part an issue covered in a recently updated national electricity plan, the decision has caused much rejoicing on the part of environmentalists in the region as well as leading energy analysts, who call it a positive move in the direction of the future; especially so in light of the fact that between 75% and 80% of all India’s electricity is at present generated using coal.

What’s more, as the world’s third worst polluter in terms of CO2 emitted, and having missed important renewables installations goals in recent years, there are some that are saying New Delhi’s goal of hitting a net-zero target by 2070 is already out of reach and unrealistic.

Last year, India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA) released an early version of the current power plan in which it said the country needs around 8 GW of new coal capacity by 2027 just to keep power supplies flowing to an ever-expanding population of 1.4bn plus.

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