Industries Can Reduce Power Costs By 60 Percent With Renewable Energy: WWF India Report

Commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers in India can cut their electricity bills in a range between 30 per cent and 60 per cent by swapping grid power supply with renewable energy, as per World Wildlife Fund-India (WWF-India).

“With renewable power costs falling rapidly, C&I consumers have a very strong financial incentive to switch to clean energy. They can not only make attractive savings of around 30-60 per cent on grid power, but also reduce carbon emissions and comply with Renewable Purchase Obligations,” WWF-India said in a report.

C&I consumers account for 51 per cent of total electricity consumption but only 3 per cent of the total renewable power consumption in India. The country has made a commitment to increase its installed renewable power capacity base to 175 GW by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030, as part of its climate action plan.

“Greater adoption of clean energy by commercial and industrial consumers is critical for meeting these national renewable energy and climate change commitments,” the report titled “Global Corporate Renewable Power Procurement Models: Lessons for India” said.

A bulk of the power demand from the C&I segment of consumers is met through captive power plants fired by coal and “brown” power supplied by discoms 90 per cent of which consists of Conventional power and 10 per cent renewable power.

C&I consumers currently source renewable power from rooftop solar plants, open access wind and solar power and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). However, many new options including Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs) Green Tariffs, Internationally-tradable RECs have been tried in other countries.