Relevance: General Studies Paper III – Energy and Environment

The news in one sentence.

For the first time (first half of 2025), electricity from renewables—mainly solar and wind—exceeded coal-based generation worldwide, with renewables’ share around 34 percent and coal about 33 percent.

This is a turning point. It shows clean power is no longer the “future”; it is today’s workhorse. Falling costs, policy push, and rapid capacity additions have made renewables big enough to shape prices, emissions, and energy security.

What changed

• Global solar generation in 2024 reached roughly two thousand one hundred and thirty terawatt-hours—enough to power all of India for a year.
• India mirrored the global shift: by mid-2025, about half of India’s installed capacity came from non-fossil sources (solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, bioenergy).
• China and India added the most clean capacity; the United States and the European Union saw mixed trends when wind or hydro output dipped.
• Despite rising demand for electricity, emissions fell in many regions because clean generation grew faster than demand.

India angle — progress, policies, and why it matters for your answers

• Capacity story: Total installed capacity is near the five-hundred-gigawatt mark, with non-fossil sources crossing the symbolic halfway line.
• Demand reality: Cooling needs, digital economy, and transport electrification will push demand; flexibility and storage will decide whether coal use plateaus or rises.
• Directly relevant schemes, rules and missions:
  
  • Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (2022): around fifty percent of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030; emissions intensity cut by forty-five percent from 2005 levels.
  • PM Surya Ghar – Muft Bijli Yojana: mass rooftop solar with central support for households.
  • Production Linked Incentive for High-Efficiency Solar Photovoltaic Modules: scales domestic manufacturing, reduces import risk.
  • Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022: easier direct purchase of green power by eligible consumers.
  • Viability Gap Funding for Battery Energy Storage Systems: public support to build grid-scale storage and smooth variability.
  • National Green Hydrogen Mission: creates a clean fuel market for industry (refining, fertilisers, steel), freeing grid space and cutting emissions.

Big positives

• Costs keep falling: solar and wind remain the cheapest new sources in much of the world.
• Scale and learning: large Indian and Chinese parks are driving down costs across the supply chain.
• Policy tailwinds: targets, open access, green hydrogen, storage funding, and domestic manufacturing now pull in the same direction.

Real concerns

• Weather variability: weak wind seasons or drought-hit hydro can force short-term fossil fallback.
• Grid constraints: transmission lines, sub-stations, and green corridors must keep pace with projects.
• Firm capacity and flexibility: rising demand means India still plans some coal; the key is to make the system flexible with time-of-day tariffs, ancillary services, pumped storage, and batteries so coal plants run fewer hours.
• Financing and execution: speedy land, transmission clearances, and bankable contracts decide whether announcements become electrons.

Way forward

• Build co-located solar-wind-storage for round-the-clock supply; tie storage mandates to large parks.
• Expand time-of-day pricing nationwide; pay for flexibility through robust ancillary service markets.
• Fast-track pumped hydro and battery projects using viability gap funding; standardise procurement templates.
• Strengthen domestic supply chains through production-linked incentives and recycling rules for panels and batteries.
• Use green hydrogen to decarbonise refineries, fertilisers, and steel, easing pressure on the grid.

Key terms 

capacity factor • intermittency • curtailment • ancillary services • time-of-day tariff • open access • renewable purchase obligation • viability gap funding • pumped storage • round-the-clock renewable power • green hydrogen • green energy corridor

Exam hook

Key takeaways

• Clean power crossing coal is a structural shift, not a blip; solar and wind now anchor global additions.
• India has reached roughly half its capacity from non-fossil sources but must invest in grids, storage, and flexible markets to lock in gains.
• Industrial decarbonisation via green hydrogen can multiply the benefits of clean electricity.

UPSC Mains question
“Renewables have overtaken coal globally, yet India’s demand is rising fast. Design a policy package that ensures affordable, round-the-clock power while keeping emissions on a downward path.” (250 words)

UPSC Prelims question
Q. With reference to India’s power sector, consider the following:

1. Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022 allow eligible consumers to buy renewable electricity directly.
2. Production Linked Incentive for Solar Photovoltaic Modules supports domestic manufacturing of high-efficiency modules.
3. National Green Hydrogen Mission aims to create a domestic market for green hydrogen and its derivatives.
   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only 

(b) 2 and 3 only 

(c) 1 and 3 only 

(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)

One-line wrap
Clean power has stepped ahead of coal; now India must build the grid, storage, and rules that keep it in front.