Guj to reduce carbon emissions from power production to 139 million tonnes by 2030, says govt

PTI, Jun 5, 2022, 5:38 PM IST

Ahmedabad: Gujarat has set a target to reduce carbon emissions from energy production to 139 million tonnes by 2030 by raising its installed capacity of renewable energy to 68,000 MW over the next eight years, a state government official said on Sunday.

A release said the state reduced its carbon emissions by about 115 percent in 2022 as compared to 2017, mainly due to an increase in the installed capacity of renewable energy in power generation.

The reduction in carbon emissions from renewable energy in Gujarat was 12.08 million tonnes in 2017-18, which increased to 26.01 million tonnes, or around 115 percent in 2021-22, the Gujarat government said in the release issued on the occasion of World Environment Day.

”Gujarat’s energy department has decided to reduce carbon emissions from energy production to 139 million tonnes by 2030. To this end, the state government will increase the installed capacity of renewable energy to 68,000 MW by 2030,” it said. ”Carbon emission from thermal power in the state has been steadily declining in the last five years. This has been achieved due to the incentive given by the state government to promote renewable energy,” the release informed.

In 2017-18, the share of renewable energy (with hydro energy) in the installed capacity of power generation in Gujarat was 29 percent with 8,065 MW, which increased to 42 percent in 2021-22 with the contribution of 17,367 MW, it said.

At present, Gujarat ranks second in the country in terms of installed capacity of renewable energy, as per the release. ”Due to the gradual increase in the installed capacity of renewable energy in the last five years, energy units produced by conventional electricity have been replaced with renewable energy,” the government said. The release quoted Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) general manager Sailaja Vachharajani as saying Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has instructed departments to ensure the state’s contribution is highest in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge for India to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.