With a big boost to India’s renewable energy generation and related investment, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has signed a futuristic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL).
IREDA, a PSU under the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, will help provide its expertise in the field of technology and finance for developing proposed green Energy projects and the climate capital to crowd in.
BVFCL, under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, has asked IREDA to chalk out an action plan for itself so that it can garner Clean Energy projects for the next 5 years. These will include projects dealing in Green Hydrogen, Energy Efficiency, Green Ammonia & conservation projects.
This collaboration has posed a greater significance as it will inspire other unclean companies related to the dirty Chemical & Fertilizer industry, one of its pioneers to be BVFCL, to reduce their respective carbon emissions and footprints, in completely environment friendly manner.
This will also help to play a crucial role in developing the North-East region of India sustainably, through investing and promoting the Green Energy projects.
The Govt. of India has set an ambitious target for reducing their own carbon emission to 45% of their GDP by 2030 as well as create 2.5 -3 billion additional carbon sinks, as per the commitment made by the country’s Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at COP 26.
This project and more in this line, will tend to help prosper our aspirations into workable scenario. With a recent announcement made by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy that the country’s total installed Renewable Energy capacity has crossed 150 gigawatts.
This appears significant because out of this 150 GW, IREDA has supported in conceptualizing about more than 19 GW renewable energy projects across the country.
About IREDA:
Established in 1987, it is currently a Mini Ratna (Category – I) Public Sector Enterprise under MNRE and has a motto “Energy for Ever”.
It has recently been conferred with the “Green Urja Award” for making Herculean strides as the premier Financing Institution for Renewable Energy in India.
Functions of IREDA: Making a green future
- Arrange finance for schemes and projects attempting to generate energy through renewable sources and even conserving energy by increasing efficient and sustainable usage.
- Spurring the innovation in financing to increase IREDA shares existing in the energy market.
- Design an action plan so as to improve the system, procedure and even the inputs for increasing their efficiency.
Difficult to attain Sustainability for Chemical Industry:
Chemical industry is regarded as one of the most prominent sources of environmental pollution.
Chemicals used in the production of oil and coal associated with mining activities or oil extraction, harm the environment by reducing land based fertility.
A UN Report release at Nairobi 2019, estimated the current chemical production capacity of the world, standing at 2.3 billion tonnes and a corpus of US$5 trillion annually, will get doubled by 2030.
Of all, the fertilizers produced are the worst polluters. They compose of phosphates, nitrates which can cause water pollution, even below the surface by seeping in.
As these harmful chemicals come in contact with the soil and water, this accelerates the process of Eutrophication, which increased the existence of algal bloom and reduced the oxygen availability for other beings living therein.
Secondly, the pollutants arising out of chemical industries can react with molecules in the atmosphere to form new or secondary pollutant.
Problems of North east:
Fertilizers are used to increased the crop yield and agricultural productivity across the world.
But the picture is grim with respect to its usage in India. There is a grave difference in its usage across the Nation, be it in the choice of fertilizer or the quantity of fertilizer to be used across various states.
While the list of optimum usage of these chemicals for a crop is accessible easily, along with the needed nutrients, still the farmers in North are keen to use Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) only.
This happens because of a subsidy on Urea which is a cheap source of NPK.
Secondly, according to a few reports, only 292 districts of the country are responsible for consumption of nearly 85 per cent of all its fertilizers.
For example, major agricultural states like Punjab and Haryana use NPK ratios to be as high as 31.4:8.0:1 and 27.7: 6.1:1 respectively, the same ratios are miserable for North East States.
Projects signed by IREDA
IREDA has signed a couple of such green energy promoting projects within a year, this being the fifth one in line.
Previous MOUs signed by IREDA have been in collaboration with SJVN, TANGEDCO, NHPC and NEEPCO to shower the Techno-Financial expertise it holds in the sphere for betterment of the country.
“The MoU is a transformational opportunity for IREDA and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) to work together forming a perfect synergy between both the organizations”, exclaims the CMD, IREDA.
“It will also serve to facilitate knowledge, technology transfer, and provide consultancy and research services, which will contribute to driving sustainable development of the country”.
SJVN has been working on a 100-megawatt (MW) Dholera solar power project and 100-MW Raghanseda Solar Project, both in Gujrat.
As an Environmentalist explains: “Whether the growth in chemicals becomes a net positive or a net negative for humanity depends on how we manage the chemicals challenge”, it remains clear that change shall be appreciated.
“What is clear is that we must do much more, together.”