Increasing the share of renewables in India’s power mix and implementing changes in cooling technologies mandated for thermal power plants can reduce water withdrawal and consumption intensity of power generation in India, according to a study on Tuesday.
A new policy brief co-authored by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) finds that the transformation of the power sector, excluding hydroelectricity, driven by solar PV and wind, coupled with improved cooling technologies in thermal and other renewable power plants could yield as much as an 84 percent decrease in water withdrawal intensity by 2030.
'This amount can lower annual water consumption intensity by 25 percent and reduce carbon emissions intensity by 43 percent, compared to 2014 levels,' according to the brief entitled Water Use in India’s Power Generation - Impact of Renewables and Improved Cooling Technologies to 2030.
Henning Wuester, IRENA director of the knowledge, policy and finance center, said that India has emerged as a global leader in renewable energy achieving record-level growth in deployment, rapid cost reductions and many socio-economic benefits from energy transformation.
He added that more than four-fifths of India’s electricity is generated from coal, gas and nuclear power plants, which rely significantly on freshwater for cooling purposes.
He also said that moreover, the power sector’s share in national water consumption is projected to grow from 1.4 to 9 percent between 2025 and 2050, placing further stress on water resources.
'Renewable energy, with the added potential to reduce both water demand and carbon emissions, must hence be at the core of India’s energy future,' he concluded.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr