Maharashtra: Wind, solar energy potential to be hit by climate change, say IITM researchers

Climate change is projected to negatively damage Indiarsquos as well as Maharashtrarsquos solar and wind energy potential over the next five decades posing a substantial obstacle to the countryrsquos ambitious quest for renewable energy said researchers from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology IITM in Pune They added bigger and more efficient networks of wind and solar farms are required to improve renewable energy outputCiting that it is essential to reduce reliability on fossil fuels researchers suggested that India needs to adapt climatesmart strategies to ensure that the maximum renewable energy potential is met and added that the findings of such studies need to be viewed as a ldquopossibility rather than certaintyrdquoThe study titled lsquoAnalysis of future wind and solar potential over India using climate modelsrsquo authored by TS Anandh Deepa Gopalakrishnan Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay researchers from the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Centre For Prototype Climate Modelling New York University Abu Dhabi UAE was published in peerreviewed journal Current ScienceThe findingsIITM researchers carried out the study by using various stateoftheart climate models to analyse the wind and solar projections for the renewable energy sector in the Indian subcontinent for the next 40 years ldquoThe efficiency of renewable energy may be impacted by climate change in Maharashtra and the neighbouring areas The study emphasises the importance of being prepared for scenarios of this kind and addressing itrdquo said Mukhopadhyay ldquoThe projections of solar energy potential for the future over western and central India including Maharashtra show a strong negative trend in the immediate future and thus build the need therefore to prepare better around it becomes importantrdquoThe researchers said in the case of wind potential Maharashtra and surrounding regions show a positive trend in most of the climate models ldquoThe monsoon months are projected to be more windy and cloudy in the coming years This region also records positive potential in the future but it is not to the same extent as the rest of central Indiardquo Mukhopadhyay addedCurrent statusMaharashtra currently ranks at the top among states in terms of installed renewable energy capacity 1078 GW with the wind power capacity of 501 GW and solar power capacity of 275 GW and second in the race for decentralised renewable energy As of June 30 renewable energy makes up 2436 per cent of the statersquos power mix The state accounts for 15 per cent of Indiarsquos wind energy potentialThe state has also launched an initiative to build new solar plants across districts to produce 12 GW of renewable energy over the course of the next six years with the goal of increasing the amount of available power and lowering power purchase costs in the future Maharashtra aims to generate 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 according to the statersquos Unconventional Energy Generation Policy released in January 2021 According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Maharashtrarsquos installed solar capacity expanded by 614 per cent between 2016 and 2021 from 38576 MW in 2016 to 275330 MW in 2022Expert SpeakDr Anjal Prakash research director and adjunct associate professor with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business said ldquoThis is a very important study that shows the future potential of solar and wind energy It can be very handy for policy and business decisions However I would like to point out that the interesting challenge is to have decentralised harnessing of both solar and wind energyrdquo In Parliament on August 2 Union minister R K Singh said the Centre is taking action to raise the effectiveness of wind and solar power facilities by funding research and development1078 GWInstalled renewable energy capacity of Maharashtra