Nineteen extreme weather events in 2019 claimed 1,357 lives, with heavy rain and floods accounting for 63% of deaths in India. Between 2013 and 2019, there has been a 69% increase in the number of heatwave days. Many Indian states are increasingly experiencing extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, heat waves, and super cyclones. These are projected to increase even further in the future. These changes in India's climate will be an additional stress to ecosystems, agricultural outputs, and freshwater resources, and could also damage the infrastructure.

Flexibility in the grid is paramount for India to meet its renewable energy (RE) ambitions — 450 GW by 2050 as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. Energy storage systems can enable this flexibility.

Energy storage systems are the next step in India's transition to an RE-dominant future. Although high carbon-emitting thermal energy sources such as coal and petroleum make up a majority of India's energy production, India has set ambitious RE goals — aiming to make RE 80% of its energy mix. Achieving these goals can help India cut its carbon emissions significantly. 

This article is the fourth in CSTEP’s Enrich series of blogs where we discuss what happens in a think tank beyond research. Read our previous articles on models for informed decision making, design thinking, and on editing at a think tank.

The rise in temperature, high rainfall variability, and increased frequency of extreme events in recent decades are all evidence of climate change. In India, these trends are projected to worsen—temperature likely to increase by 4°C, frequent heat waves to persist over longer durations, heavy rainfall events to get more frequent, dry spells to extend, and the sea level to increase by about 3 metres by the end of the century.
 

A monthly newsletter featuring CSTEP commentary, publications, events, and other developments.

A monthly newsletter featuring CSTEP commentary, publications, events, and other developments.

A monthly newsletter featuring CSTEP commentary, publications, events, and other developments.

The Southern Region (SR) leads renewable energy (RE) deployment in India, having an installed capacity of about 43 GW as of December 2020. Recognising the immense RE potential of this region, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, has set an ambitious RE target of 59 GW for SR by 2022. However, the implications of injecting this additional power into the grid have to be understood. Because of the intermittent nature of renewables-based power, grid integration of RE has distinct technical implications.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are all set to play a critical role in India’s transition to a green economy. However, there are speed bumps along the road, especially with regard to manufacturing. The domestic EV manufacturing industry relies heavily on the import of a key supply-chain component—the traction motor—that houses permanent magnets made of rare-earth elements (REEs).