GE Power and Partners convened to discuss the country’s evolving electricity landscape

GE and partners convened distinguished members from the government of India, policy leaders and industry experts to discuss the country’s evolving electricity landscape and explore pathways towards a modern, affordable, reliable and sustainable energy future. The most prominent topics of discussion were energy efficiency and digital solutions for India, which were shown to have the potential to drive enormous value across the entire electricity value chain.

Minister for Power, Coal, and New and Renewable Energy , Piyush Goyal, said, “The Future of Electricity in India depends on affordability, sustainability and energy security. To supply 24X7 Power for All at a highly affordable price in the near future, we are keen to use the latest technology to achieve the fine balance between conventional and renewable power. India provides a huge opportunity for all players with a level playing field and I welcome all global players to invest in India’s energy sector.”

To meet Indian’s vast energy requirements the government  has set a target of setting up 175 GW of renewable energy generation capacity by 2022, out of which 100 GW is to come from solar. The solar power capacity is presently at 6.7 GW and is expected to touch 20 GW by next year.

Paul Simons, Deputy Executive Director, International Energy Agency, while talking about India’s energy outlook said, “India will be the single most important contributor to global energy growth upto 2040, for conventional as well as renewable power. This presents a huge opportunity in power generation, transmission & distribution as well as in enhancing energy efficiency. To leverage India’s critical role in the new global energy order we need a robust policy regime that can ensure the necessary investments and strong long term partnerships with the private sector.”

Summit participants discussed the government’s electricity reforms and various power sector challenges, including the need to improve efficiency and reliability of India’s installed base; emissions control; achieving the government’s aggressive renewable energy targets and associated grid integration; the future role of gas and coal-fired generation; and a path forward to support the government’s plans to increase energy access for all.

“Transformational change is coming to India thanks to progressive policies and reforms, and there is a great opportunity for India to achieve ambitious national energy goals more efficiently than in the past,” said Steve Bolze, president and CEO of GE Power. “India has taken the lead in proving that access to electricity drives economic growth, job creation and opportunity for everyone, and digital solutions can help bring about greater access. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the government and our customers in providing power technology and solutions to India.”

As one of the founding partners of the Summit, GE Power talked about a holistic systems approach towards improving energy access and achieving cleaner, reliable and affordable power in which all new power generation technologies – from centralized base load power like higher efficiency coal plants and flexible load-following gas power to mainstream renewables like wind, hydro and solar – have their role to play in a digitally optimized generation mix. GE also demonstrated how digitization, software and analytics also can help India more rapidly achieve its energy ambitions by maximizing performance and efficiency across the entire electricity value chain, which includes generation, transmission and distribution.