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Renewables a clear business opportunity in India - new briefing - News

26 November 2015, 0:00 UTC 2 min read

Business has an opportunity to drive the development of a reliable and affordable supply of renewable energy in India – so concludes a new briefing, published today by The Climate Group and CDP as part of the RE100 campaign.

'India: Understanding market conditions for business to go 100% renewable' sets out options for businesses seeking to switch more of their electricity supply to renewable sources of energy, through direct investments in their own assets, purchased electricity from a third party, or the buying of renewable energy credits (RECs). 

The briefing  outlines the benefits of switching, such as greater energy security and protection against cost inflation for consumers. Despite adding considerable electricity generation capacity in the last decade, India's energy supply is not meeting huge growing demand, and a lack of supply and infrastructure issues means the price of grid electricity is rising. The cost of renewables meanwhile is falling – providing a win-win for the companies who invest.

In the briefing , diversified conglomerate ITC identifies a lack of energy security as a substantial business risk, leading it to take out energy saving measures and develop its own renewable energy assets.

IT company Infosys says its substantial solar PV projects are eligible for 'accelerated depreciation' - making them cost competitive with other sources of energy. 

International conglomerate Larsen & Toubro meanwhile reports 13.2 million INR cost savings by generating onsite solar power, money that can be reinvested in other things. 

Krishnan Pallassana, India Director at The Climate Group, says: “The benefits for business are threefold: greater energy security, affordable supply, and recognised leadership internationally.

“India’s INDC submitted to COP reiterates the Government’s agenda to take India’s renewable energy generation capacity to 175GW in the near future. Given that business is the largest consumer of electricity and renewable energy costs are steadily declining and reaching parity, there is a golden opportunity for the private sector to take advantage and help drive the transition to a prosperous low carbon future.”

Due to rapid population and industry growth, electricity generation in India has grown dramatically – from merely 579 TWh in 2005-6 to 1,048TWh2 in 2014-15 – an increase of about 6% annually over the last 10 years. More than 50% of demand is from the commercial and industrial sectors. Based on predictions for India's rocketing economic growth, electricity demand is expected to reach 5,000TWh by 2035.

Today's briefing comes just days before the start of significant climate talks in Paris, where the Government of India will be keen to demonstrate the progress it is making in developing renewable power.

Throughout COP21, RE100 will be shining the spotlight on companies from around the world committed to 100% renewable power, including Infosys, the first Indian company to join the campaign with an ambitious public target to be '100% renewable' by 2018.