DRE, Mini-Grids Can Aid In The Growth Of E-Cooking In India: CSE Report

DRE, Mini-Grids Can Aid In The Growth Of E-Cooking In India: CSE. Photo by-Pexels

A latest report from the Centre For Science and Environment (CSE) recommended the phasing out of LPG cylinders, used primarily for cooking in India. The CSE researcher advocated for boosting electric cooking (e-cooking) instead. The report also talked about the main challenges in rolling out large-scale adoption of e-cooking in India and the likely solutions to boost its growth. It also said that renewable energy sources like distributed renewable energy (DRE) and mini-grids could play key role in providing energy security for the segment in rural India.

The report pointed out that rural India still lacks access to cleaner sources of cleaning. It also pointed out that despite a thrust from the government to push LPG as a cleaner source for cooking, it failed to get the required results.

“This rapid expansion in LPG access, however, has not guaranteed a sustained transition to clean cooking in households that received these cylinders. Unexpectedly, over 50 percent of the households that received new LPG cylinders as part of the scheme did not choose to refill it even once. This was due to high costs of refill, cultural or behavioural beliefs, and a lack of significant LPG cylinder distribution networks where they lived,” the CSE report said.

However, this coupled with the lack of an extensive LPG distribution network in rural geographies, and the high gas import bill for India to meet its demand for LPG and PNG, make it evident that LPG cannot be the only clean cooking option for India in the coming years, it said. “Switching away from LPG, or a phase-down approach as we call it, over a period of 16–22 years can help India reach 100 per cent penetration of e-cooking in rural India. This not only coincides with the country’s vision of achieving the status of a developed nation but also enables the achievement of its net-zero ambition by 2070,” it said.

The CSE report also added, “It is estimated that this will cost the country roughly Rs 1–5 lakh crore over the implementation period in subsidies (primarily for the procurement of e-cooking devices, utensils and electricity). Equally importantly, our analysis suggests that
the initiative will also help to avoid an LPG import bill of Rs 25–65 lakh crore over a period of 15 years, even with a conservative increment of 5–15 percent CAGR against a CAGR of 21 percent over the past 15 years.”

The report, however, also admitted the imbibed challenges with the plan to expand e-cooking in India. The think tank said that its report estimated a peak power demand of about 320 GW from e-cooking. It said that this can be managed with effective load management measures as well as capacity addition of about 80 GW over a period of 16–22 years. 

“In addition, India also needs two other roadmaps for e-cooking to succeed. The first is a roadmap to phase down, and ultimately phase out, LPG from kitchens in India. The second is to strengthen and decarbonize the grid, keeping in mind future e-cooking adoption projections. Both need a variety of ministries to work in tandem to achieve near-universal energy access and net-zero emissions goals for India,” the CSE report said.

The researchers advocated that decarbonization of grid and boosting renewable sources would also be crucial for the growth of e-cooking in the South Asian country. It said that solar power projects could be used to cater to the additional grid demand. 

“In an ideal scenario, the additional demand can be met through distributed renewable energy generation using mini- or micro-grids at the local level, with local resources,” it said. The report also talked about the need for battery storage systems. 

“Therefore, any e-cooking roadmap is incomplete without also including a roadmap to decarbonize India’s power sector fully. Since the scheduled times for cooking during the day is almost always around current peak electricity use hours, and since renewable energy sources are intermittent, this roadmap also needs to include energy storage systems like Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at the utility-scale or smallscale pumped hydro, or other similar storage system,” the report said.