5 Upcoming Trends that will dominate the power sector in the new fiscal

The world faced numerous challenges in the last fiscal due to pandemic and consequent lockdown. Almost every sector felt the heat but they also indicated the signs of recovery; they are on the path of continuous rise. The new financial year stimulates hopes and aspirations across the sectors to reach the expected targets. The power sector which is vital to propel growth and accomplish the targets will become even more significant in this fiscal to promote economic recovery. The sector made notable growth in the last fiscal, but some challenges remain- improving green energy cover, promising reliability and resilience, and security and cost cut.

In this fiscal, the Indian power sector will have to discover and provide solutions for the problems like power cuts, monetary losses, technological up-gradation and cost cuts. Today’s cutting edge technologies have empowered all the domains to realise their capabilities while improving the satisfaction of the customers. The power sector will have to upgrade itself with the latest technology to assure decarbonisation, boost digitalisation, and decentralisation. These objectives will encourage some trends in the sector in 2022.

Sustainable Energy

As per the Paris climate agreement, India is working to enhance its green energy production; it is committed to increasing its contributions to green energy generation in the world to 40℅ from the current 25% by 2030. On the other hand, the government also has its own targets for attaining 50% energy from non-fossil fuels and 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030. Also, it has to achieve the target of 100GW solar energy generation in 2022. These targets will boost clean energy generation. Through schemes like UDAY Scheme, PM KUSUM, Solar Rooftop Programme and others, the government is providing incentives to the power sector to ensure sustainable production.

Technological Up-gradation/Digitisation

The state-of-the-art technologies of the day can help in meeting the energy demand while promoting sustainability. The penetration of the internet has augmented the up-gradation drive of every sector and the power sector is also embracing these technologies. Cloud-based technology and 5G can be harnessed best to improve the efficiency of the sector. Data collection from smart meters and other tools can be utilised for analysis and decision-making.

Private Sector Participation

The government is firm to encourage the participation of private players in the power sector to boost its growth and fulfil the energy needs of the country. This is also intended to increase the liquidity in the sector and accomplish the ambitious target of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’. This will attract investment from across the globe to the sector. To stimulate solar energy generation, the government has permitted 100% FDI in the solar sector.

Electrification

Electrification of sectors such as transportation will be a leading trend in this fiscal. The adoption of e-vehicles is increasing by the day; big private players are joining the market with their cutting edge products. It is expected that electrification will attract more investment in this financial year, hence, it’s important to develop the requisite infrastructure to create a favourable ecosystem.

Energy Storage

As inclination towards energy storage and mitigation has increased, energy storage business has developed to a great extent. With perpetual research and innovation, the industry will come up with new-age devices equipped with energy efficient features. A set of technological solutions will facilitate the move. Apart from that, it can prove vital to reduce environmental impacts. Methods of energy storage such as batteries, thermal, mechanical, pumped hydro, and hydrogen will get more attention in financial year 2022-23.