Press release – December 16, 2016
\nNew Delhi | December 15, 2016| The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has released for public input the draft National Electricity Plan 2015.<\/p>\n
Greenpeace India has welcomed the key finding of the National Electricity Plan (NEP) [1], which is that India does not need any new coal plants beyond those already under construction until 2027. The CEA\u2019s study corroborates Greenpeace India\u2019s earlier findings on India\u2019s coal power overcapacity [2], in effect justifying Greenpeace India\u2019s call for an end to new coal power plants..<\/p>\n
\u201cWe welcome the draft plan\u2019s recognition that there is no longer any economic or development rationale for new investments in coal power plants for the foreseeable future,\u201d said Nandikesh Sivalingam, Climate and Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace India, \u201cWith India\u2019s renewable energy sector taking off, it is now possible to reduce poverty, improve living standards and provide \u2018power for all\u2019. Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE) is putting power in the hands of people across the nation and resources must be focussed on meeting this goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
In September, Greenpeace released an analysis of the overcapacity problem plaguing India\u2019s coal power sector, warning that over \u20b9 3 lac crore of investment is being wasted on coal power plants that will not be required. The NEP validates Greenpeace India\u2019s key findings, particularly stating:
\n1. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is no need for any new coal power plants to be added to the country\u2019s existing capacity until 2022.
\n2. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Given that there is over 50 GW of coal power currently under construction, which will come online over the next few years, there is as of today, absolutely no requirement for any increase in coal power plants till 2027 at least.<\/p>\n
The NEP however, stays silent on the coal capacity in pipeline of about 178 GW. (These are projects that have yet to start construction but have received permits or are in the process of applying for permits.) These projects represent a potential stranded investment of 10 lac crores and must not be allowed to progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther Ministries need to take cognisance of the CEA\u2019s warning, and act now to avoid wasting scarce capital,\u201d said Sivalingam. Data with Greenpeace shows that between January and October 2016, 7,230 MW of coal power commenced construction. Between January 2014 and June 2016, approximately 50,000MW of new coal power was either given final environmental clearance or allowed to start the clearance process by the Ministry of Environment.<\/p>\n
On coal requirement<\/strong>:<\/p>\n The CEA also projects that coal requirement for electricity by 2027 will be only 901 million tonnes and less than 800 tonnes for 2022, even in a worst case scenario. Despite this, Coal India has been forced to adopt a one billion ton target by 2020, which is resulting in significant loss of forest, displacement of communities and pollution of water and air resources as a result of expanded mining. The CEA\u2019s new projections expose the complete lack of any justification for such destruction.<\/p>\n Continued use coal will have catastrophic effects: not just on the economy, but also on our natural resources and habitats [4], and have adverse effects on the health of millions of Indians due to air pollution [5]. Any future expansion on coal will also threaten the Paris Agreement\u2019s aspiration of restricting temperature increase to 1.5C, which India ratified with much fanfare in October this year [6] \u201cThe CEA\u2019s report presents India with another opportunity to show global leadership in the fight against climate change, and ensure that the economy moves decisively towards a cleaner energy paradigm that guarantees clean power to all,\u201d concluded Sivalingam.<\/p>\n END NOTES:<\/strong> For any further queries contact: The Sun is a renewable source of energy and is one of the cleanest sources.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Press release – December 16, 2016 New Delhi | December 15, 2016| The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has released for public input the draft National Electricity Plan 2015. Greenpeace India…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[25],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-1973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-clean-energy","tag-renewables","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1973"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12322,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973\/revisions\/12322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1973"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=1973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n1. http:\/\/www.cea.nic.in\/reports\/committee\/nep\/nep_dec.pdf
\n2. http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/publications\/Power-Scenario-Briefing\/
\n3. Decentralised Renewable Energy Model in Bihar village: http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/en\/news\/Blogs\/makingwaves\/Dharnai-Solar-Village\/blog\/53566\/
\n4. Inviolate Files: https:\/\/secured-static.greenpeace.org\/india\/Global\/india\/2016\/docs\/The-Inviolate-Files.pdf
\n5. Out of Sight: http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/Global\/india\/cleanairnation\/Reports\/Out%20of%20Sight.pdf
\n6. Press Release on India ratifying Paris agreement: http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/news\/India-Ratifies-Paris-Agreement\/<\/p>\n
\nNandikesh Sivalingam, Sr Campaigner, Greenpeace India: 91 9686450785
\nAnindita Datta Choudhury: Sr Communication Specialist, Greenpeace India: 91 9871515804<\/p>\n\t\t\t