Clean energy drive in high gear on route to milestone 2030: Power sector experts at ET WLF 2025

India's power sector is transforming rapidly with the adoption of renewable energy, putting the country's 2030 green goals within easy reach, industry executives said at the event while flagging skill gaps and payment risks as key challenges. The panel discussion on 'Powering the Trillion-Dollar Energy Transition' was moderated by Devndra Chawla, MD & CEO, GreenCell Mobility.

No country other than China has expanded renewable energy generation capacity as rapidly as India in the past decade, Tata Power chief executive Praveer Sinha said, citing how the nation's solar power capacity has risen to 120 GW now from just 5 GW in 2015. "While we say that we will do 280 GW of solar and 100 GW of wind (by 2030), I do believe that we have much better capability," he said.

Suzlon Group vice-chairman Girish Tanti said reaching 100 GW of wind power capacity by 2030 looks "almost certain".

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Sinha stressed the importance of hybrid energy projects for round-the-clock supply. "We already have successful combinations of solar and wind with battery and pumped hydro storage. The goal is to provide reliable power at lower tariffs and make Indian industry globally competitive," he said.

Tanti also underlined the role of wind in balancing the national demand and supply of energy. "Solar peaks in the day, but India's consumption peaks in the evening and morning. Only wind can balance that. Together with storage, we can ensure energy on demand," he said. India has a vast wind potential of 1.1 terawatt, of which only 4% has been harnessed, Tanti said.

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The panellists also pointed to India's rapid progress in renewable energy equipment manufacturing. India's current capacity to produce wind energy equipment is 3-4 times its own annual requirement, making the nation an exporter of "world class and cost-competitive" wind gear, Tanti said. "By 2030 it is expected that India will be supplying almost 10% of the global supply chain of wind and that could go as high as about $25 billion of earnings for our country," he added.

Experts on the panel also highlighted challenges facing the sector, ranging from skill shortages to the risk of delayed payments by power purchasers.

"In India, with a lot of distribution companies, the off-taker risk is still much high," said Vibhuti Garg, director-South Asia at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). "To an extent, that has been addressed by SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India) and NTPC tenders, which have come up with escrow accounts and payment security funds," she said, adding that tenders driven by states lack such risk-handling mechanisms.

Each gigawatt of wind power can generate 8,000-10,000 jobs, said PwC India chairperson Sanjeev Krishan. "But only 30% of the workforce is job-ready for green roles. The huge focus has to be on skilling. We need structured renewable energy courses in colleges, maybe even start at schools," he said. Krishan also spoke about inclusivity. "What better way to create inclusive growth than by bringing more women into the workforce," he said, citing the case of a women's self-help group in the Northeast, which maintains solar rooftops. Garg of IEEFA highlighted the role the private sector has played in the expansion of green energy by providing capital and investing rapidly.