India is the next big nation to go all in on nuclear energy, with the country aiming to triple capacity by 2031.
The fast-growing nation is undertaking an ambitious national project to power its economy with clean energy on a massive scale.
India is currently burning mostly coal to power its nation of 1.41 billion people, with about two-thirds of its energy coming from coal fire power.
Under the Indian government plan, nuclear power will treble from current 7,480 megawatt (MW) from nuclear to to 22,480 (MW) capacity.
Presently India has 22 nuclear reactors in operation. The latest plant that has come into operation is domestic technology with a KAPP (700 MW).
At least 10 more are under construction, with at least another 10 planned to start in the next few years.
The country needs to decarbonise as rapidly as possible to help the world avoid dangerous global warming.
Planners are warning India can’t just focus on renewable power, which has also seen a lift in recent years.
“If India wants 200 GW of renewable power, then we should try to have 20-40 GW of nuclear as well,” he told CarbonCopy.
“That is what the world is doing. The UK will be 25% nuclear by the middle of this century. France is adding eight to 14 new reactors. India, too, needs to add three to four times as much nuclear capacity. What we have is not enough,” Nuclear scientist Ravi Grover from Mumbai’s Bhabha Atomic Research Centre told Indian media recently.
India needs baseload nuclear power if it wants to move away from coal, he argues.
“Balance between supply and demand was usually maintained through load-shedding,” he said.
India is heavily reliant on Russian technology for the most part, which creates a strong dependency on the nation under heavy sanctions for invading Ukraine.
There is also a push to allow more foreign investment in the nuclear energy sector.
Reuters reports The Department of Atomic Energy has said previously that several foreign companies including Westinghouse Electric, GE-Hitachi, Electricite de France (EDF.PA) and Rosatom were interested in participating in the country’s nuclear power projects as technology partners, suppliers, contractors and service providers.
