Future Directions

The Government has envisaged the year 2012 to meet its mission of power to all. The large coal reserves in the country give a ready and economical resource and ensure energy security as of now. Therefore, coal has been identified as the mainstay fuel for power generation till 2012. The government has also committed to produce 10% of its power from renewable energy through the year 2012. The overall potential for renewable energy generation is around 1, 72,000 MW. Of this, less than 7000 MW has been realized so far.  In fact, the Electricity Act, 2003, about which you will study further mandates all State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) for fixing a minimum percentage of procurement from renewable energy. The entry of renewable energy can help us in meeting present peaking power and common shortages.

Another step in this direction is the scheme of permitting captive power generation that refers to generation from a unit set up through an individual, co- operative society or industry for their own consumption. Companies in the manufacturing sector, example for cement, aluminium, steel, fertilizers, paper, sugar, etc. have their own captive power plants to supplement the electricity purchased from utilities or for producing energy. This has denotation for the utilities as you will learn further.