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Fuel Strategic Reserves and penetration of Renewable Energy Crucial for Sustainable Energy Security in the South Asia Region: Alok Kumar, Secretary , Ministry of Power, Government of India
Oct 21, 2021

Speaking at the Inaugural of the CII South Asia Summit organised on Thursday 21st October 2021, the Secretary to the Ministry of Power, Mr. Alok Kumar said that there is need to build the fuel strategic reserves to secure Power-Supply and avoid disruptions.  He further added that it is important to increase  the penetration of Renewable energy sources for sustainable energy security in the South Asia region.

Secretary Power highlighted the importance of  Electricity saying it is the major source of energy impacting everybody’s life in a very significant way. Considering this,  the goal of Govt of India is to increase the share of electricity in the energy basket from current 18 per cent to 28 per cent by end of this decade.  There is a need to have diversified energy sources – battery storage, hydro, solar, hydrogen end and greater cross border cooperation to ensure energy security in the South Asian Region.  He also highlighted the need  to enhance cyber security preparedness for the power supply system as IT is imbedded in the power transmission system. 

Talking about the initiative of OSOWOG ( One Sun One World One Grid ) launched by India, Mr Kumar said that  the initiative envisions facilitating global cooperation for building  a worldwide ecosystem interconnecting renewable energy resources for seamless sharing  – as the  sun is always available in some parts of the world for conversion into Renewable Energy and can be used by other countries as an economically viable and  sustainable source.  He called for building a robust transmission system across the South East Asia.  

Mr. Kumar said that as a pilot project, the Government of India  (GOI) has floated the expression of interest for installation of 1000 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) -    to provide a roadmap for installation of the energy storage system in the country.  A tender has also been floated by GoI for a 13 gigawatt-hours (GWh) grid-scale battery storage system in Ladakh. 

Mr Devendra Karki, Secretary, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Government of Nepal said that  a robust framework is the need of the hour in South Asia region – with government support to handle challenges associated with long term solutions for energy security. 

There needs to be a paradigm shift in the way we generate and consume power in the South Asia region - with conducive energy policies, sound investment plans, trans border cooperation and  energy-based socio-economic programs -  Mr Devendra Karki, Secretary, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Government of Nepal

He said Nepal imports petroleum products and even electricity during dry months when there is diminished hydroelectricity production. Nepal has enormous potential for hydroelectricity . The country  aims for per capita energy consumption to be 1500 KW by year 2028 with the surplus hydropower distributed to neighbouring countries after meeting domestic demand.

Mr. Karki said that the Energy security in the South Asia region requires extensive bilateral, trilateral and multilateral cross border cooperation without which it would be difficult to have a robust and seamless energy security system.  Appropriate funding from government and private sectors is required to build necessary infrastructure.  

He added that the Nepal Electricity Authority and Power Grid Corporation of India have signed an agreement to develop the 400KV Butwal-Gorakhpur Cross-Border Transmission Line. Currently, the 400KV Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur Cross-border transmission line is the only power line for power trade between the two countries.  He calls for free & fair policies to  promote cross-border power trading for energy security. 

Secretary, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources , Government of Bangladesh, Md Habibur Rahman, said that Bangladesh is an emerging country, successfully maintaining 6% growth since last decade. The present electricity generation capacity is  25000 MW however this would grow with  rapid development.  India and neighboring countries can collaborate for meeting the energy demand through Multilateral framework. 

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in January 2010 between Government of India and Government of Bangladesh for bilateral Co-operation in the areas of Power Generation, Transmission, energy efficiency, Renewable energy, Consultancy services, Training & Development, Constitution of Steering Committee on Working Group, and establishment of grid connectivity between India and Bangladesh. .” Md Habibur Rahman - Secretary, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources , Government of Bangladesh,

Mr Deepak Amitabh, Chairman and Managing Director, PTC India Ltd  said that South Asia is very vulnerable to climate change. In the last decade due to climate related disasters there has been a loss of 149 billion USD. Climate change can push 60 million people in the South East Asia region below poverty line if the issue is not addressed holistically.  Energy security and energy sustainability is important for the entire South Asia Region as some form of energy import is required by all the south Asian countries. The cooperation among the countries will help us in achieving the energy security in the entire region

Mr Anil Sardana, Co-Chairman, CII National Infrastructure Council and MD and CEO, Adani Transmission Ltd , said that currently the world is witnessing energy  transition where electricity is the most benign form of energy,  constituting 20 per cent  in the energy basket  and is  moving towards 50 per cent. Establishment of a regional power pool may facilitate cross border trade in electricity through diverse portfolios of hydropower, natural gas, clean coal and renewables. He added that ensuring energy security requires well-defined integrated transmission lines, promoting renewables exploitations and enhancing bilateral to multilateral power trading and the most effective way to deal with this is greater cooperation between the countries in South Asia.   

The CII South Asia Power Summit was organised to facilitate a discussion on the create steps that need to be taken to connect the energy markets of these countries, with the aim to strengthen the energy security and contribute to the prosperity of the people in the region. 

The Summit was attended by Senior Officials from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan and was attended by industry leaders from PGCIL, POSOCO, Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd , Nepal Electricity Authority, NHPC Ltd, Power Exchange of India,  Nepal Power Exchange Ltd, Hydro solutions, Nepal, Statecraft Ltd, NVVN Ltd, Nepal Electricity Authority, Druk Green Power Limited, Bhutan, PTC India Ltd.

21 October 2021

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