Solar has not beaten coal in the race to electrify India

India’s future is still tied to coal and fixing woeful inefficiency of plants will create huge new generation at a price solar cannot match. More efficient coal plants will undercut the cost of renewables, creating new demand for the fuel, says Partha Bhattacharya, former chair of Coal India, in an interview with Climate Home. Bhattacharya agrees that solar has become a major competitor to new coal but argues that under-utilised existing coal plants will be able to undercut the cost of new solar, by raising their output.

By Editorial Team July 26, 20170

India’s future is still tied to coal and fixing woeful inefficiency of plants will create huge new generation at a price solar cannot match.

More efficient coal plants will undercut the cost of renewables, creating new demand for the fuel, says Partha Bhattacharya, former chair of Coal India, in an interview with Climate Home.

Bhattacharya agrees that solar has become a major competitor to new coal but argues that under-utilised existing coal plants will be able to undercut the cost of new solar, by raising their output.

Editorial Team

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