India, among several other countries globally, now faces a unique situation where managing the energy transition process without hurting the economic development becomes the highlight of its policies. The Indian power sector is highly carbon intensive, with coal based power providing 70% of the total electricity generated. Renewable energy occupies around 15% of the capacity mix. Energy access along with several other
challenges, pose an obstacle to the needed transition to clean energy. As the seasonal load variations in India are not prominent, cheap coal based power supplies most of the load profile,while gas power plants are used for peak loads. The myth that renewable energy sources cannot meet baseload demand has become widely accepted and wide-spread, given their fluctuating nature. Several studies demonstrate an optimistic transition to 100% renewable sources might just be possible in the coming decades. In a carbon-rich power sector like India, the ‘base load’ mind set is a pretty big and powerful hurdle, as ensuring base load generation becomes a major issue with implications directly affecting the country’s economy. In this study, an effort has been made to discuss whether base load renewable generation in India is feasible, and the challenges involved.Indija se, tako kot mnogo drugih držav po svetu, kjer postaja eden pomembnejših dejavnikov energetska tranzicija s čim manj škode za gospodarstvo. Indijski energetski sektor je zelo ogljično intenziven, saj zagotavljajo 70% celotne proizvedene električne energije v termoelektrarnah na premog. Obnovljivi viri zavzemajo okoli 15% celotne energije. Dostopnost energetov, skupaj s številnimi drugimi dejavniki, predstavlja glavno oviro za prehod v uporabo čiste energije. Zaradi majhnih sezonskih nihanj v porabi električne energije za pokrivanje pasovne energije skrbijo s poceni energijo iz premogovnih termoelektrarn, medtem ko za pokrivanje konic skrbijo plinske elektrarne. Mit, da z obnovljivimi viri ni mogoče zadostiti potrebam po pasovni energiji, se je razširil in sprejel predvsem zaradi nestalne narave obnovljivih virov. V nekaterih študijah je prikazan optimističen prehod na 100% energije iz obnovljivih virov v prihodnjih desetletjih. V energetskem sektorju, ki v večini temelji na ogljiku, kot je to primer v Indiji, je pojem »pasovne energije« velika in močna ovira, saj zagotavljanje pasovne energije predstavlja pomemben dejavnik, ki neposredno vpliva na gospodarstvo države. V prispevku so prikazana razmišljanja, ali je v Indiji mogoče zagotavljati pasovno energijo iz obnovljivih virov, in izzivi, povezani s tem
