MC Exclusive: Well prepared to handle the next spurt in power demand: RK Singh, Union minister for power

"The advantage we have over other countries is that the cost of renewable energy capacity in India is one of the lowest in world."

As temperatures begin to rise, electricity demand in India is expected to hit a record high of 230 gigawatts (GW) this April. Moneycontrol exclusively spoke to India's minister for power and renewable energy RK Singh to find out if the country is better prepared this year.

Edited excerpts:

Q: Would India face power cuts this summer?

A: Not all. You saw, we handled the last spurt pretty well, and we are well prepared to handle the next one too. The fact that our electricity demand is growing at 10.5 percent is unprecedented. Nowhere else in the world has seen such a steep rise in power consumption. But, we'll handle it. We are prepared for it.

Q: But sir, we are lagging behind on our internal renewable energy targets.

A: We are not missing the target, by the way. In fact, the target was 40 percent from non-fossils by 2030. We achieved it nine years in advance. I mean, come on.

As far as our internal target is concerned, you're talking about the 175 GW by the 2022 target, right? Today, my serviced capacity is 178 GW from non-fossil fuels. Out of that, if you take out nuclear, which is about 6,800 MW (6.8 GW), that makes it about 170 GW of established renewable capacity.

We have another, about 80 GW of renewable projects under construction. Again, out of that you take out nuclear, that is about 12 GW, so you have about 68 GW under construction. Now, these under construction projects would have actually fructified if we had not had two years of COVID. But despite that, we're already at 170 GW. With the 68 GW under construction, we are way ahead of time. Also, we have another 30 GW under different stages of bids.

Q: You along with Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Puri recently held an inter-ministerial meeting on the National Green Hydrogen Mission. Give us an update on the mission please. 

A: Yes, we are working out a trajectory for the concerned companies to start blending green hydrogen into the city gas system, and the same will be done for the LNG they use for transport. Another trajectory is being worked out for refineries, steel plants and so on for replacing grey hydrogen, which right now they make from imported natural gas, with green hydrogen. Similarly, fertiliser manufacturers will also have to replace grey ammonia with green ammonia.

We already have concrete plans by different industries for setting up six million tonnes of green hydrogen production, which will translate to about 36 million tons of green ammonia production.

We've identified two ports which will serve as refueling ports for green shipping. One will be Kandla on the west coast, and the other will be Tuticorin port on the east coast. So, we will have green hydrogen, green ammonia refueling facilities for green ships in these ports. We have industries trying out export orders for green hydrogen. So, we will emerge as a green hydrogen and green ammonia powerhouse. That's target.

Watch the interview here: 

A: Let the Standing Committee give its report first. I would be able to comment on it only after that.