India Committing to a Renewable Future

NTPC, India’s largest electricity producer, is altering its expansion plan to include a greater emphasis on renewable energy. With a successful completion of the company’s expansion plan, NTPC will become the biggest renewable energy company in the world. Originally NTPC was going to install more thermal units, however this changed after the utility company recognized factors that are changing the trajectory of the energy market and sought to prepare accordingly. The company’s switch to renewable energy sources helps India get one step closer to its goal of having a renewable power deployment of 175 GW by 2022. This goal influenced NTPC's decision because, by transitioning to clean energy, it allows the company and country to align their infrastructure with the global trend of reducing greenhouse gases and be better equipped to work with more renewable sources in the future. In addition to this factor, utility companies are finding it harder to secure foreign loans for coal-fired projects. Due to pressures from green lobbies, major financial institutes across the world are reducing their loans for coal based projects. Subsequently, NTPC were able to acquire foreign loans for their renewable energy project a lot easier than their previous expansion plan. Political and financial pressures for clean energy initiatives are exactly what the renewable energy market needs in order to become more cost effective and accelerate its growth. What does NTPC’s new expansion plan mean for India and the rest of the world? The state-owned company currently has nine solar power plants in it’s energy portfolio, but with the new directive to expand renewable energy, this number is going to increase drastically. This is good for India because it means that the country will be able to further develop with a clean energy infrastructure at its base. This puts them at an advantage over other nations as many, especially first world countries, are struggling to adapt their 20th century oil based infrastructure to the requirements of renewable energy. On a larger scale, India is one of the first developing nations to put action behind words when it comes to renewable energy and as a result, they are acting as a template for other developing nations to follow. Sengupta, Debjoy. "NTPC Plans to Become Biggest Renewable Energy Company in 10 Years." The Economic Times. N.p., 18 Aug. 2016. Web. 22 Aug. 2016. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/ntpc-plans-to-become-biggest-renewable-energy-company-in-10-years/articleshow/53747780.cms