Environment: India mirrored the global decline in coal generation in 2020, by registering a decrease of five percent. China—which is responsible for more than half of the world’s coal-fired electricity at 53 percent—however, witnessed a 1.7 percent rise in coal generation as its overall demand for electricity grew by four percent.
A study published by an energy think tank, Ember, highlighted that the four largest coal-generating countries after China all saw a coal power decline in 2020: India with a decline of five percent, the US at minus 20 percent, Japan at minus one percent, and South Korea registering a fall of 13 percent.
India’s coal power declined for the second consecutive year in 2020. This was largely driven by a 27 percent growth in solar energy, combined with a drop in overall electricity demand of two percent due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Ember’s senior analyst Aditya Lolla, India has already started its clean electricity transition. It now “needs to ramp up wind and solar considerably in the next decade to both replace coal and meet rising electricity demand. India has the opportunity to ensure that coal generation doesn’t see a resurgence after the last two years of coal falling.”
Read this to know the future of coal-dependent towns in India.