Kerala has great potential in green energy, say experts at IKGS

Kerala has the opportunities and potential to emerge as the clean energy powerhouse of India considering its strengths reinforced by government policy initiatives, said experts at the ongoing Invest Kerala Global Summit (IKGS) here on Friday (February 21).

Participating in a session on Empowering Kerala’s Future: Unleashing Opportunities in Clean and Sustainable Energy, the panellists said the sustainable transformation into clean energy will yield both economic and environmental benefits down to the local community level.

Manoj Gupta, CEO, Tata Power Renewable Microgrid Ltd, said it was important to reduce cost of generation, transmission and distribution through strategic planning to make a profound transformation into clean energy.

Organic and agricultural wastes abundantly available in villages could be sources of clean energy which will add value to the farming activities of village communities, besides reducing stress on environment, he said. 

R. Harikumar, director of the Energy Management Centre, said that though Kerala has had a prime-mover advantage in the generation and consumption of solar energy, it still accounts for only a small percentage of the State’s total energy consumption.

The State holds a lot of potential in developing Urban Micro Grids tapping renewable energy sources considering the increase in energy needs caused by the building boom. Also, this is vital to make the State energy resilient, considering the recurrence of disasters.

Deepak Ushadevi, MD, Ciel & Terre India, said Kerala needs to tap floating power potential side-by-side solar. Since the availability of land is a big issue in the State, floating power plants could be leveraged as a sustainable alternative, he said. 

Sanjiva De Silva, Counsellor (Industry, Science and Resources), Government of Australia, Australian High Commission, said the India-Australia Partnership in Renewable Energy is a major initiative.

Published – February 22, 2025 08:17 pm IST

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