India is projected to become the world’s 5th largest economy by 2020.  To achieve that will require a lot more power generation.

India’s energy demand has grown an average of 3.6% per annum over the past 30 years.  In December 2010, the installed power generation capacity of India stood at 165 GW. 

India is putting a lot of effort into nuclear and renewable energy.  For example, it has announced plans to build an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) designed to use thorium as fuel.  India has very little uranium which was the initial motivation to develop a thorium reactor.  The reactor will operate with a power of 300 MW using a mix of thorium and uranium-233. About 75% of the power will come from the thorium. Construction of a pilot AHWR is planned to start soon.

India is moving quickly to ramp up power generation, but the biggest challenges are land acquisition and the availability of fuel.  Another problem is a shortage of domestic supply of skilled manpower.

A major problem is that up to 30% of India’s power generation that is lost to “aggregate technical and commercial” (AT&C) losses. Smart grid is seen as a way of reduing these losses and in May 2010, the national government created the India Smart Grid Task Force, chaired by Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister.

Last week the Chief Minister of Gujarat dedicated a 600 MW solar power park in the Patan district of Gujarat.  The Gujarat Solar Park will contribute 214 MW of photovoltaic solar capacity.  The solar power park is spread across 3,000 acres of desert and represents two thirds of India’s total solar capacity 900 MW.  According to the Gujarat government, the solar park will reduce the state’s carbon dioxide emissions and save 900,000 tonnes of natural gas annually.  The Gujarat Solar Park is an innovative public private project in which the state government allocated developed land to the project developers with the entire infrastructure required for the project including transmission, roads and water put on a fast track.