Op Ed: India needs to urgently decarbonize its power sector. Here’s how it can succeed
India has always been a country of dichotomies.
It is the world’s most populous nation, fifth biggest economy and home to the highest number of billionaires after China and the U.S. It is a world leader in digital finance, thanks to the creation of digital public infrastructure, and is the world’s third-largest start-up hub.
Yet it remains a lower-middle-income economy, with a large share of the population classified as low-income or poor, and is a highly unequal society.
India’s climate narrative is, similarly, marked by contradictions.
While its contribution to world cumulative emissions is negligible — India accounts for approximately 4% of the global stock of emissions in the atmosphere — and it is one of the lowest emitters on a per-capita basis, India is already the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses on an annual basis, and is, worryingly, home to 12 of the world’s 15 most polluted cities.
The NLC Tamil Nadu Power power plant, right, and Tuticorin Thermal Power Station, left, in Tuticorin, India.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
With India forecast to be the world’s fastest-growing large economy and biggest oil consumer over the coming years, if it does not take action fast, emissions will only continue to rise.
‘Greening’ of the power sector
India needs to act not only for the world to achieve the Paris Agreement ambitions, but also for its own survival.
More than 75% of Indian districts are at risk of extreme weather and it is already seeing fiercer cyclones, greater incidences of drought and flooding and more heatwaves. While these climatic changes will impact worker productivity and economic output in aggregate, they will disproportionately impact vulnerable communities and farmers — 60% of which are monsoon-dependent.
While India needs to decarbonize its entire economy, achieving its target of net-zero emissions by 2070 arguably hinges on the “greening” of its power sector.
With a 34% share, India’s power industry constitutes the single biggest source of emissions in India, and its grid ranks as the fourth most carbon-intensive in the world. Coal still accounts for almost 50% of installed power capacity, and more than 70% of power generation.
With greater power demand expected from consumers, as well as existing and emerging areas of industry, in the near future, and the ongoing electrification of the economy also putting greater pressure on the grid, emissions from power will continue to rise if left unabated.
A farmer works in his vegetable field in Jharia city, Dhanbad district, Jharkhand state.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
In recognition of the imperative to decarbonize power as a means to drive the whole-economy emissions transition, the government has outlined impressive clean energy targets: achieving a 50% share of renewables in power capacity by 2030 and energy independence by 2047.
India has made impressive strides toward these goals. As a result of significant private sector investment, India now ranks fourth of all countries globally on installed solar and wind power capacity and its addition of renewable power capacity has been particularly strong in recent years.
Unfortunately, this simply isn’t enough. To truly decarbonize its energy sector, India needs to act on three fronts.
1. Integrating renewable energy into the grid
Apart from greater renewable capacity installation — for context, India’s additions in 2024 represented only 8% of China’s — India needs to find ways to integrate greater amounts of renewable energy into its grid, a challenge that countries globally are grappling with, while continuing to invest in baseload (or round-the-clock readily available) power.
To do this, India needs to invest more in battery storage infrastructure — including via pumped hydro storage, new and innovative battery energy storage systems, and also green hydrogen.
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Indeed, the inability to transmit renewable energy into the grid when it is generated in surplus (for example, solar during summer months in south-western states) often leads to curtailment, or the intentional offloading of power production, as the lack of storage capacity prevents its use in power-scarce states.
Digitalization of the grid will also be key to integrating renewables. Emerging digital technologies can enable power operators to access information from renewable energy assets and consumers in real time, allowing them to operate intelligent load-dispatching systems based on current supply and demand.
In order to have a tangible impact on renewable power integration, grid digitalization will need to take place concurrently with electricity market reform.
Currently, India’s state electricity distribution companies, or DISCOMs, have limited flexibility in incorporating renewables as per availability and demand as they are locked into long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Plans for what’s known as a Market-Based Economic Dispatch System, which would centralize power purchase and dispatch across the country on a real-time basis, will enable India to transition from relatively inflexible locked-in power agreements with thermal power producers to lowest-cost (including renewable) generation.
Solar panels at the Bhadla Solar Park in Bhadla, in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan.
Sajjad Hussain | Afp | Getty Images
A digital energy grid overlaid with centralized power purchase and dispatch will improve efficiency in power trading, and also likely lead to lower power prices.
While this transition takes place, greater flexibility is needed at India’s coal power plants to ensure a steady baseload supply of power, while more investment in nuclear is needed to guarantee future energy security. Reassuringly, India has already outlined plans for both.
2. Improving energy efficiency
The second front constitutes a greater focus on enhancing energy efficiency, both on the demand and supply side.
On the demand side, smart appliances, buildings, and meters, coupled with time-of-day tariffs, can enable better demand optimization. On the supply side, meanwhile, the professionalization of state distribution companies via arrangements with private operators can be instrumental in reducing transmission losses.
India sees heavy losses in power transmission across most states as infrastructure remains outdated, while leakages and theft are rampant.
Indian residential and agricultural consumers have long thought of electricity as a free public good, and for good reason. India’s DISCOMs heavily subsidize power to these two segments.
Professionalization of power distribution can help lower these subsidies and reduce wastage. States that have professionalized distribution have indeed shown a significant reduction in transmission and distribution losses. In a power-hungry — power demand is expected to quadruple by 2050 — and historically power-scarce country, there is no room for waste.
3. Decentralized energy solutions
The third front constitutes the greater installation and use of decentralized renewable energy (DRE) solutions, including rooftop solar and microgrids.
This will enable India to meet the dual goals of both improving power access for India’s remote and marginalized communities, as well as greening its power supply.
Progress on the installation of rooftop solar has been slow so far, impeded by a lack of affordability, consumer awareness and trained personnel, with only around 16 gigawatts installed versus a target of 40 gigawatts.
Microgrids, meanwhile, remain commercially unviable, and more impact — non-commercially minded — capital will be required to get such initiatives off the ground. Hearteningly, recent government initiatives signal progress on decentralized renewable energy, and this installation will be important in lowering grid load and emissions.
Where the funding could come from
All three prongs of India’s energy sector transition will require funding. According to expert estimates, India needs to spend around $100 billion per year, or 2.8% of current nominal GDP, to achieve net-zero power sector emissions by 2070.
With various imminent and urgent competing demands on the country’s budget, public finance will simply not be enough.
India will need to attract greater amounts of philanthropic, foreign, and private capital, as well as develop creative financing structures, to meet its net-zero target.
Each of these capital sources has a specific role to play.
Residential properties stand illuminated at night on hillsides in Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
While philanthropic capital can help in seed funding unproven new technologies ― for example, new battery technologies, nuclear, and green hydrogen ― greater foreign and domestic public capital can play a role in de-risking investments that so far generate lower-than-market returns (for example, microgrids). Finally, more private capital can help finance already commercially viable opportunities, including power distribution and renewables.
The good news is this: India’s mammoth endeavor to transition its power sector paves the way for significant growth across multiple sunrise sectors.
It opens up tremendous opportunities for investment and entrepreneurship across renewables and decentralized energy solutions, emerging technologies in battery storage, nuclear, green fuels, various segments of energy efficiency and in software/ digital capabilities.
India’s clean-tech ecosystem is already emerging, and energy-related enterprises, including those operating in renewables and energy efficiency, directly account for 70% of all green startups in the country.
As the transition ensues, more capital will be needed. With rising incidents of heatwaves crippling productivity whilst raising grid load across the country, and India simultaneously positioning itself as a global data center hub, there is no time to lose — the call for greater green and transition finance is now.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed happened this weekend, and Ford’s electric SuperTruck managed to beat every other vehicle, gas or electric, to the top of the hill.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a yearly event on the grounds of Goodwood House, a historic estate in West Sussex, England. The event started in 1993, and has become one of the largest motorsports festivals in the world.
Many companies attend Goodwood to debut new models, and enthusiasts or race teams will show off rare or customized vehicles or race unique cars.
One of the central features of the event is the Goodwood hillclimb, a short one-way race up a small hill on the property. The track is only 1.17mi/1.89km long, with a 304ft/92.7m uphill climb. It’s not a particularly taxing event – merely a fun way to show off some classic or unique racing vehicles.
As is often the case, companies brought out several interesting EVs to the event, including Honda’s Super EV concept, the recently-unveiled Hyundai Ioniq 6N, and the upcoming Porsche Cayenne EV, still in camouflage after recently setting an SUV record at another UK hillclimb.
Many of these cars came just to show off, to do a demonstration run up the hill and join the company of the world’s most exotic hypercars.
But some cars show up for the glory, and join “the shootout,” the sprint up the hill for the best time.
And Ford didn’t come to show off, it came to win. And in order to win, it brought…. a truck.
Ford’s SuperTruck is a one-off, 1,400+ horsepower prototype electric vehicle, supposedly based on the F-150 Lightning, but in fact bearing almost no similarity or even resemblance.
It’s been festooned with aerodynamic elements all about, lowered, equipped with race tires, and power output has been boosted to the aforementioned 1,400hp. It was driven by Romain Dumas, who Ford have been using since 2022 to drive their electric prototypes.
For the purposes of a hillclimb, perhaps the most important aspect is the Ford’s electric drive. Hillclimbs are a popular form of racing in Britain, and often consist of a short sprint up a small hill, showcasing acceleration and nimbleness more than anything.
Electric cars do well in this sort of racing due to their instant low-end torque, being able to jump off the line faster than the gas competition. They also tend to have plenty of torque, which helps with carrying them up the hills involved.
EVs do well on longer hillclimbs too, because as races reach higher and higher altitudes, gas cars suffer from reduced power due to less oxygen being available for combustion. EVs don’t suffer from this, so they tend to do well at, say, Pike’s Peak hillclimb – which, incidentally, Ford also brought its SuperTruck to, and also beat everybody at.
This year was not the first time Ford has brought a ridiculous electric chonker to Goodwood. Last year, it brought the SuperVan, which has a similar powertrain to the SuperTruck, and also beat everybody.
The SuperVan’s main competition last year was Subaru’s 670hp “Project Midnight” WRX, piloted by Scott Speed, who Dumas handily defeated by over two seconds, 43.98 to 46.07. And this year, the SuperTruck’s main competition was… the same Subaru, piloted by Speed, who Dumas handily defeated by just under two seconds, 43.23 to 45.03.
Ford did not, however, set an all-time record with the SuperTruck, in fact coming in fifth on the list of fastest runs ever. In front of it are two gas cars and two electric – the gas-powered Gould GR51, a tiny open-wheel race car, with a 42.90; an F1 car driven by Nick Heidfeld that set a 41.6 in 1999; the electric VW ID.R, also piloted by Dumas with a 39.90 (which broke Heidfeld’s 20-year record); and the all-time record holder the electric McMurtry Spierling “fan car,” with a mind-blowing 39.08 in 2019.
You’ll notice something similar about all of these – they’re all small racecars that are actually built for speed, whereas the truck is… a big truck. And yet, Ford still managed to beat every single challenger this year, with its big honker of an EV, because EVs are just better.
Watch the run in full below, starting at 9:34. Blink and you’ll miss it.
And now, if Ford continues its pattern, we’re looking forward to seeing the Super Mustang Mach-E at Goodwood next year, which did well this year at a tough Pike’s Peak, getting first in its class and second overall, likely due to inclement conditions that limited running to the lower portion of the course, limiting the EV’s high-altitude advantages.
Given the Super Mustang is a real racecar, and not a chonky truck, it might even give VW’s ID.R time a run for its money (but, frankly, really has no shot at the overall record, because the Spierling’s “fans” give it an absurdly unbeatable amount of downforce).
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Environment
GM gears up to build low-cost LFP EV batteries in Tennessee after announcing new upgrades
GM is preparing to begin converting production lines at its battery plant in Tennessee later this year for low-cost LFP EV batteries. GM’s joint venture, Ultium Cells, announced additional upgrades at the facility on Monday as it prepares for a new era.
GM will build low-cost LFP EV batteries in the US
After beating out Ford and Hyundai last year to become America’s second-best EV seller, GM is widening its lead in 2025.
Ultium Cells, GM’s joint venture with LG Energy Solution, announced plans to upgrade its Tennessee battery plant on Monday as it prepares to introduce lower-cost lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery cells.
The upgrades build on the $2.3 billion investment announced in April 2021 to convert the facility into a key EV and battery hub. The company initially said the Tennessee plant was “at the heart of GM’s EV strategy,” but that was also when GM was still committed to an all-electric future.
GM will begin converting production lines to accommodate the lower-cost LFP batteries at the facility later this year. By late 2027, the company expects to start commercial production.
With LFP batteries, GM said it’s “targeting significant battery pack cost savings compared to today’s high-nickel battery pack while increasing consumer EV choice.”
The Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant currently employs around 1,300 employees. With the ability to produce multiple chemistries, GM said the facility will “guide the next phase of” its battery strategy.
After choosing Spring Hill for its LFP batteries, the next step, according to GM, is finding a home for lithium manganese-rich batteries. GM recently announced plans to become the first company to produce LMR prismatic battery cells at commercial scale.
Meanwhile, GM’s Warren, Ohio, plant will continue producing NCM batteries, which it says have helped it unlock over 300 miles of range.
Electrek’s Take
GM’s electric vehicle sales more than doubled in the second quarter, led by the hot-selling Chevy Equinox EV. The company sold nearly 46,300 EVs in Q2, up 11% from last year.
Chevy is currently the fastest-growing EV brand in the US, while Cadillac claims to have already achieved “EV leader” status in the luxury segment this year. However, that does not include Tesla.
Even GMC is building momentum with the new Sierra EV, seeing strong initial demand, and Hummer EV sales are picking up.
With new, lower-cost batteries on the way, GM aims to continue narrowing the gap with Tesla. GM offers 13 electric vehicles, covering nearly every segment of the market. It already calls the Chevy Equinox EV “America’s most affordable +315 range EV,” but GM has even lower-priced models on the way, including the next-gen Chevy Bolt EV.
Ready to test drive one for yourself? You can use our links below to find Chevy, Cadillac, and GMC EVs in your area.
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Environment
Elon Musk says Tesla is going to have ‘the most epic demo ever’, but we heard that before
Elon Musk is teasing Tesla doing “the most epic demo ever”, but we heard him claim that before and nothing came of it.
On X last night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he was shown something at the Tesla Design Studio and that the company will hold the ” most epic demo ever by the end of the year”:
Just left the Tesla Design Studio. Most epic demo ever by the end of the year. Ever.
I used to get excited about Musk making statements like that, but I was burned one too many times.
In 2016, Musk said this:
Our goal is, and I feel pretty good about this goal, that we’ll be able to do a demonstration drive of full autonomy all the way from LA to New York … by the end of next year.
The end of 2017 came and went without this demonstration and now in 2025, Tesla can’t do it either.
However, since Musk referenced being at Tesla’s Design Studio, where it mostly works on car designs and advanced features, people are speculating that it’s something else.
A possibility is the next-gen Tesla Roadster, as Musk has made similar comments about it in the past, but they were again about demonstrations that never happened.
Shortly after the unveiling of the next-gen Roadster in 2017, Musk talked about adding cold air thruster to the supercar to allow it to have unprecedented racing performance and even possibly hover over the ground.
In 2019, Musk told me that Tesla aimed to do a demonstration of that by the end of 2020:
5 years later, it never happened, and the Roadster was initially supposed to come to market in 2020. It has never launched.
In 2024, Musk claimed that Tesla would unveil and demo the new Roadster by the end of the year:
It also didn’t happen, and the CEO instead said that Tesla was “close to finalizing design” at the end of 2025.
Electrek’s Take
The comment about the demo makes me think of the Roadster, but it could be something else. Maybe a bot, but I’m not sure out of the design studio.
Either way, for the reasons listed above, it’s hard to get too excited.
You can’t just believe what Musk says these days. Historically, he has been wrong or lied too often, especially about upcoming demonstrations like this new comment.
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