Consumption of power is set to grow by leaps and bounds in India. A senior official of Bharat Light and Power (BLP), a renewable energy company, insists that the country’s 20 crore middle class citizens are to grow to 55 crore within 10 years, and that energy needs would shoot up.
“If an individual is below the poverty line, he will use ten times more power than he currently consumes when he gets to the middle class,” said Balakrishnan G Iyer, Chief Development Officer of Bharat Light and Power. Underscoring the definition of power consumption, he said 4,000 units per capita per year is the dividing line between a developed country and an underdeveloped country. “India uses a meagre 800 units. For us to get to where China is, we need five times more production, or to get to where United States is, we need 25 times more production,” said Iyer.
The scope of investments for renewables is estimated to be around $10 billion over the next five years. Bharat Light and Power (Iyer was speaking at an event in Mumbai about the urgent need to draw up an ideal road map by tapping renewable sources. BLP is to invest $1 billion to expand its renewable energy capacity portfolio from 200 MW to 1,000 MW over the next five years, and is looking to raise capital from existing investors. Currently, UTI Capital and a California-based venture capital company, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, own stakes in the firm.
Fifth-largestIyer said India is already the fifth largest consumer of electricity in the world. “The amount of electricity that needs to be produced in India needs to double in less than five years,” he said. “The total energy consumption of all the 7 billion people on this planet is 16 terawatt hours on an annualised basis. Solar energy alone has the power to generate 23,000 terawatt hours a year,” added Iyer. With a vision of 1 GW of operating assets by 2015, BLP is pursuing opportunities in wind, solar, gas and other clean sources. BLP is also pioneering ways to make roof top solar a viable alternative for diesel electricity.