The Future of Power Companies in India

Summary: Power generation is vital to the economic growth of any country and India is no exception to that. The power sector in India is going through transitional changes and there is going to be a phenomenal boom in the next ten years. The increased demand for power in industrial and residential sectors is going to bring revolutionary changes as power sector companies are finding alternative sources of energy to meet the power supply requirements across the country.

Indian government is doing its bit to generate non-conventional sources of energy to meet the electricity demand of the country

The Indian government is aiming to provide electricity to every household in India using hydro, gas, coal and nuclear energy. Clearances are being given for setting up new nuclear plants in different parts of the country. The top power sector companies in India are focusing on providing power to rural India for agriculture and to industries all across the country for sustained growth. India’s power sector is quite diversified and its power sources range from conventional sources such as hydro, natural gas, coal, lignite, nuclear power and non-conventional sources like solar power, wind, agricultural and domestic waste. Electricity demand in India is going to peak in the years to come and the massive generation of power is required to meet the ever-increasing demand

Renewable energy sector in India is getting a tremendous boost

Power sector reforms are finally happening in India and the Indian power sector is undergoing a significant transformation to compete with the market demand and supply. As of May 2019, the total capacity of power stations in India stood at 356GW. The government of India is keen on transforming the power sector to promote sustained industrial growth. It has approved the national policy on biofuels and the expected benefits of this policy include a cleaner environment, reduced import dependency, employment generation and boost to infrastructural investment in rural areas.

The government has plans to achieve 175GW capacity in renewable energy by 2022 including 100GW of solar power and 60GW of wind power. The government is formulating ‘Rent a Roof’ policy to achieve the target of generating 40GW of power through solar rooftop projects by 2022. India is going to increase the use of LED lights for all lighting needs by 2020, thereby saving 40,000 crores annually. All states and union territories support the Government of India’s vision of ensuring 24×7 affordable power for all by 2022. The future of solar energy in India mainly depends on achieving the solar power generation target of 100GW by 2022. A lot of R&D is being done in India for more efficient and cost-effective solar modules that can cater to the energy requirements.

Harnessing of solar power is being given top priority and large scale investments are happening in this sector

The concentrated solar power (CSP) technology is becoming popular because of its remarkable efficiency. More efficient and cost-effective solar panels are entering the market as research on better solar module technologies is happening on a rapid scale. There have been a record number of solar panel installations in the last five years in India and the market is upbeat about its widespread use in the years to come. With a significant reduction in tariffs, the cost of solar panels is going to reduce further as energy storage technologies are becoming more advanced for better efficiency. The new environment-friendly batteries will be more viable and efficient which will cut the cost of solar energy up to 60% and reduce the carbon footprint considerably. The government of India will continue to invest heavily in renewable energy and sustainable technologies to meet the energy requirements of the country without hurting the ecosystem.

Some of the top power companies in India are NTPC with a power generation capacity of 33GW, Adani Power with a power generating capacity of 1980MW in Gujarat, 3300MW in Maharashtra and 1320MW in Rajasthan, Reliance Power with a capacity of 34000MW, Nuclear Power Corporation of India with a nuclear capacity of 4.5GW, Tata Power with a power generation capacity of 3GW, Damodar Valley Corporation with a capacity of 11000MW, NHPC with a power generation capacity of 5GW, CLP Power with a wind power capacity of 450MW and Lanco Infratech with a capacity of 18GW.