Indian Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy minister, Piyush Goyal stated on Monday that, “Solar power generation is now cheaper than coal power generation”. This statement is in relation to the recent auction in which India participated. Over there, India accomplished a record low price of 4.34 Rs/Kilowatt hours when compared to coal tariffs range of 3 to 5 Rs/Kilowatt-hour
and that’s where, Goyal got the opportunity to boast about the fascinating fact that solar energy is now actually cheaper than coal.
It wasn’t a much of a surprise because Goyal has previously predicted this energy miracle to happen any time soon. He knew that world will enter a phase where a surge in solar energy will be witnessed by everyone. He said “a new coal plant would give you costlier power than a solar plant and of course there are challenges of 24/7 power. We accept all of that – but we have been able to come up with a solar-based long term vision that is not subsidy based.”
The concepts of energy are moving at a dynamic speed. As in October last year, Fortune’s report said that “clean energy generation was “becoming mainstream,” and more importantly cheaper.” Whereas, it also noted solar and wind energy to out shadow energy generated by electrify on economic terms.
“Make way for the sun” marks Deutsche Bank as a congratulatory message to Goyal’s positive predicament.
In his speech, Goyal also mentioned that India has been working hard for its mission to boost its solar power generation by 500% to more than 100 gigawatts by 2022. Nearly 20 gigawatts of solar capability was permitted by the Indian government, with an additional 14 gigawatts intended for the rest of 2016 according to the annual budget of the country.
“On the solar front, we believe there is enormous potential to take it to 100,000W in next 5-7 years,” the minister said and also he added that “India is willing to assist developing countries in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific to develop plans for clean energy free of charge.”
