Despite India’s thrust on renewable energies, a recent notice issued by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) of India to power utilities to not retire any thermal units until 2030 has alarmed experts who say that the move will have a retrograde effect on India’s energy transition endeavours.
In its January 20 notice, CEA said that “the country is witnessing huge energy demand post-pandemic which is projected to surge to an all-time high in coming summer of 2023 and beyond’’.
“Therefore the role of thermal fleets, including old thermal units becomes crucial in order to support renewable integration,’’ it said, adding that the Power Minister in a meeting held on December 6 “advised not to retire any thermal units considering the expected demand scenario and availability of capacity in future’’.
