Power Minister R.K. Singh on Sunday said the global energy transition discourse needs to move along with energy security as supply chain emerges as a challenge. “Focus on only energy transition is incomplete,” Singh said at the G20 Energy Transition Working Group Meeting.
Energy storage is essential as the world moves towards Renewable energy sources and investment in the area is equally important, he added. Until investment is made in storage, round-the-clock electricity supply cannot be achieved as renewable energy takes centerstage.
Solar and wind sources are available at certain hours of the day which makes electricity supply intermittent. Energy storage projects eliminate grid instability by storing power.
Challenges that come with battery storage are high cost and limitation of lithium supply, Singh said. Most of the lithium concentration is only in certain parts of the world, which makes its supply challenging.
Lithium-ion battery storage is the most low-cost, efficient and commercially viable for energy storage, according to an earlier report from India Smart Grid Forum.
While the demand for critical minerals is set to increase because of the global preference and emphasis towards renewable energy, the global supply chain of the critical minerals is highly concentrated and unevenly distributed, the Economic Survey report for 2022-23 had said.
The skewed distribution of the resource poses a supply risk in the face of its enhanced demand, according to the report. Focus of the world should also be on access to finance for moving to clean energy and low-cost financing for energy transition, Singh said.
India recently announced financial support for battery energy storage projects in the form of viability gap funding and a proposed pumped hydropower storage policy in its quest to move to renewable energy.
The country aims to achieve ‘net-zero’ emissions by 2070, reach 500 GW of power capacity from non-fossil fuel by 2030, and get 50% of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030.
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