Advancements in renewable energy transition in India: A review

ABSTRACT

The share of renewables in global energy production has grown steadily for the last few decades. The oil crisis of the 1970s forced the developed countries to search for alternatives to fossil fuels and later the global warming and climate change warning accelerated these efforts worldwide. Being the world’s third-largest consumer of oil and electricity, India started developing and installing renewable energy projects in the 1980s and is currently ranked fourth among the global leaders in terms of total installed capacity. This paper reviews the advancements of renewable energy transition in India and potential resources to be exploited to reach its clean energy goals. Onshore wind and solar are India’s principal renewable energy contributors and are on the right track to reach the target of 175 GW by 2022. India has set a formidable goal of 450 GW capacity by 2030 to manifest its commitments toward sustainable development. This target may prove too ambitious unless accompanied by strong policies and incentives to attract the much-needed massive investment in the sector. It also necessitates promoting technology to accommodate unexploited resources such as ocean energy and offshore wind energy.

KEYWORDS:

• Renewable energy
• wind energy
• solar energy
• biomass energy
• energy policies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Suresh Lal S R

Suresh Lal S R received his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2018 from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India. He had received his B. Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, Trivandrum, University of Kerala, India, in 2004. He is currently a full-time member of the faculty at College of Engineering Trivandrum. His research interests include energy efficiency, renewable energy, wind energy, solar–wind hybrid energy systems, and additive manufacturing.

Joselin Herbert G M

Joselin Herbert G M is specialized in the field of Mechanical Engineering, with his Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1991, Master Degree in Thermal Engineering in 1997 and PhD in Wind Energy (Renewable Energy) in 2007. He has 24 years of teaching experience at various levels and currently working as a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kumaracoil, Tamilnadu, India. His research interests cover wind energy, solar energy and biomass energy. He has published 34 research papers in various reputed Journals with 1729 citations, 6 H-Index and published 2 Patents. He is also a reviewer for various Elsevier Journals and peer reviewed 79 journal articles. He is a Fellow member of Institution of Engineers (India) and a life member of Solar Society of India (SESI).

Pradeep Arjunan

Pradeep Arjunan received his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2003 and B.Tech degree in 1999 from the College of Engineering, Trivandrum, University of Kerala, India. He is currently a full-time member of the faculty at College of Engineering Trivandrum. His research interests include Heat transfer, Thermodynamics, Automobile Engineering, energy efficiency, renewable energy, solar energy, and wind energy.

Abhilash Suryan

Abhilash Suryan received his Ph.D. in 2012 from Andong National University, South Korea. He had received his B. Tech. and M. Tech. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, Trivandrum, University of Kerala, India, in 1995 and 1997, respectively. He is currently a full-time member of the faculty at College of Engineering Trivandrum. His research interests include energy efficiency, renewable energy, aerospace engineering, propulsion engineering, and fluid dynamics.