Oxford Energy Podcast – India’s renewable energy targets and the role of distributed energy resources (DERs)
The IEA predicts that the need for flexibility in the Indian power system will rise faster than anywhere else in the world, not least because of the ambitious renewable energy targets which require 500 GW of non-hydro capacity by 2030. Integrating this level of non-dispatchable generation requires an effective transformation of the power sector to enable flexible operation of existing power plants as well as incentivization of new sources of flexibility. Distributed energy resources (DERs), which are located close to demand and sourced locally, are a game changer in this respect. From the consumer perspective, they provide control and choice to the users about their electricity usage and costs. From the system perspective, distributed resources not only can lower the peak demand which has recently been increasing in India but also to provide flexibility which is much needed with the decline in the share of thermal generation. In this podcast we discuss the state of DERs in India and key challenges to their uptake in the power system of this country.
