The ABC’s Stephen Long reports (19.12.16) that ‘India [has] released a new power plan promoting a dramatic increase in renewable energy, raising doubts about the Indian-owned Adani Group’s massive coal mine in Queensland.
‘The new national electricity plan says India will not need any additional coal-fired energy capacity in the next decade. India’s Energy Minister Piyush Goyal alluded to a renewables pivot when he spoke to Four Corners last year.
‘”I hope in the years to come we can see an explosion of renewable energy on the back of cheaper storage,” Mr Goyal said.
‘Tim Buckley from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analytics told AM the development was bad news for the Australian coal industry.
‘”They [India] say that they have 50 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants under construction already, so it’s far better to complete those than write them off as stranded assets,” he said. “But no new coal-fired plants in India in the next decade”.
‘Mr Buckley said the plan had left the Adani proposal “totally stranded”.’