Bihar has decided to fulfil its energy deficits by moving beyond coal. The de-carbonisation has been given an impetus with the notification of the Bihar Policy for Promotion of Bihar New and Renewable Energy Sources 2017, which paves the way for investment in clean energy. The Centre for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) on Thursday organised a conference on renewable energy “RE-Powering Bihar: Energising, Access and Opportunities.”
Inaugurating the conference Bihar Finance Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui stressed on the need for developing energy resources which are not thermal based and said that his Government was giving importance to develop energy sources for industrial opportunities. He said it was time for investors to come to Bihar and invest in order to accelerate the development of the State.
Bihar has traditionally been a power deficit State with abysmally low energy consumption. The per capita power consumption in Bihar is 228.8 kWh which is 76 per cent lower than the national average of 901.3.
CEO of Centre for Environment and Energy Development Ramapati Kumar said that Bihar could not afford to miss the new energy revolution in the 21stcentury powered by renewable fuels. “The new policy is set to transform the energy landscape of Bihar by bringing investment in the range of Rs20,000 crore in the next five years and adding new jobs and development opportunities,” he said and added that much of the investments are expected to flow into setting up new manufacturing capacity in the State for solar panels and other renewable energy equipment.
A CEED survey pointed out that Bihar was doing well with regard to power deficits but that was because its power demand, capacity and generation have been very low. It’s generation is primarily dependent on thermal energy to the tune of 89 per cent, while hydro and renewable account for only 4.2 and 6.6 per cent respectively.
“The low per capita power consumption evidently indicates that a large portion of the population does not have access to modern energy, despite claiming that over 98 per cent of the villages are electrified,” the report claimed.