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India.com
10 hours ago
- Business
- India.com
India's Power Demand To Rise 4% In 2025, Renewable Energy Output Surges: IEA
New Delhi: India's electricity demand is expected to grow by 4 per cent in 2025, as cooler summer temperatures in the first half of the year (H1 2025) reduced consumption and pushed the annual peak load to September, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its mid-year electricity market update. The Paris-based agency said industrial activity was also impacted by global economic uncertainties in the first half of the year, leading to just 1.4 per cent YoY growth in demand between January and June 2025. However, demand is expected to pick up in the second half, reaching an overall growth rate of 4 per cent for the year. For 2026, the IEA forecasts a stronger 6.6 per cent growth, driven by increased industrial and service sector activity and rising use of air conditioners. According to Ministry of Power estimates cited by the IEA, India's peak electricity load this year could touch 270 GW -- up 8 per cent from last year -- and is likely to occur in September instead of the summer months. The peak will be met by expanding generation capacity, the report said. The government is also considering setting air conditioner temperature standards between 20°C and 28°C, which could potentially cut peak demand by as much as 60 GW by 2035. On the generation front, renewable energy sources posted strong growth in the first half of 2025. Combined output from solar and wind plants rose 20 per cent YoY, raising their share in the electricity mix to nearly 14 per cent from 11 per cent in the same period previous year. Solar PV generation was up 25 per cent and wind generation by nearly 30 per cent. Hydropower output rose 16 per cent year-on-year due to improved water availability, while nuclear generation increased 14 per cent, helped by the commissioning of the 700 MW Unit-7 at Rajasthan's nuclear power station in March. Its twin, Unit-8, is expected to start operations in 2025-26, part of India's plan to reach 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 under the Nuclear Energy Mission. The surge in low-emission power generation, along with slower demand growth, led to a 3 per cent drop in coal-fired electricity generation in the first half of 2025 -- the first such decline in the first half of a year since 2020. Gas-fired generation fell sharply by around 30 per cent, returning to 2023 levels. For the full year, coal-based power output is expected to edge up 0.5 per cent before growing 1.6 per cent in 2026, while gas-based generation is likely to decline 3 per cent in 2025 and then rebound 7 per cent in 2026. Nuclear output is expected to rise 15 per cent this year and 19 per cent next year, while solar generation could grow 40 per cent in 2025 and 28 per cent in 2026. Wind power is projected to see growth of about 10 per cent in both years, and hydropower is set to expand 7 per cent in 2025 and 10 per cent in 2026. The IEA also projected that India's emissions intensity will fall by 3.8 per cent annually.
Hans India
10 hours ago
- Business
- Hans India
India's power demand to rise 4 pc in 2025, renewable energy output surges: IEA
New Delhi: India's electricity demand is expected to grow by 4 per cent in 2025, as cooler summer temperatures in the first half of the year (H1 2025) reduced consumption and pushed the annual peak load to September, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its mid-year electricity market update. The Paris-based agency said industrial activity was also impacted by global economic uncertainties in the first half of the year, leading to just 1.4 per cent YoY growth in demand between January and June 2025. However, demand is expected to pick up in the second half, reaching an overall growth rate of 4 per cent for the year. For 2026, the IEA forecasts a stronger 6.6 per cent growth, driven by increased industrial and service sector activity and rising use of air conditioners. According to Ministry of Power estimates cited by the IEA, India's peak electricity load this year could touch 270 GW -- up 8 per cent from last year -- and is likely to occur in September instead of the summer months. The peak will be met by expanding generation capacity, the report said. The government is also considering setting air conditioner temperature standards between 20°C and 28°C, which could potentially cut peak demand by as much as 60 GW by 2035. On the generation front, renewable energy sources posted strong growth in the first half of 2025. Combined output from solar and wind plants rose 20 per cent YoY, raising their share in the electricity mix to nearly 14 per cent from 11 per cent in the same period previous year. Solar PV generation was up 25 per cent and wind generation by nearly 30 per cent. Hydropower output rose 16 per cent year-on-year due to improved water availability, while nuclear generation increased 14 per cent, helped by the commissioning of the 700 MW Unit-7 at Rajasthan's nuclear power station in March. Its twin, Unit-8, is expected to start operations in 2025-26, part of India's plan to reach 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 under the Nuclear Energy Mission. The surge in low-emission power generation, along with slower demand growth, led to a 3 per cent drop in coal-fired electricity generation in the first half of 2025 -- the first such decline in the first half of a year since 2020. Gas-fired generation fell sharply by around 30 per cent, returning to 2023 levels. For the full year, coal-based power output is expected to edge up 0.5 per cent before growing 1.6 per cent in 2026, while gas-based generation is likely to decline 3 per cent in 2025 and then rebound 7 per cent in 2026. Nuclear output is expected to rise 15 per cent this year and 19 per cent next year, while solar generation could grow 40 per cent in 2025 and 28 per cent in 2026. Wind power is projected to see growth of about 10 per cent in both years, and hydropower is set to expand 7 per cent in 2025 and 10 per cent in 2026. The IEA also projected that India's emissions intensity will fall by 3.8 per cent annually.
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China, Russia to conduct naval drill; growing interest in C919 jet: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing Future negotiations could take place against a more fragmented backdrop, as the superpowers vie for influence over third countries. The aircraft carrier Shandong departs from Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong, July 7. Photo: Xinhua China and Russia will hold their 'Joint Sea 2025' joint naval exercise in August, followed by the sixth joint maritime patrol in the Pacific, China's National Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act dramatically reverses American support for clean energy in a world racing towards decarbonisation. Meanwhile, China is projected to contribute 60 per cent of the world's expansion in renewable energy capacity by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.
Time Magazine
12 hours ago
- Automotive
- Time Magazine
How Recycling EV Batteries Can Power the Green Transition
The minerals found in an electric-car battery often travel thousands of miles around the world before the vehicles they will be in hit the road. Lithium mined in Chile or Argentina is shipped to China—where three-quarters of the world's electric-vehicle (EV) batteries are currently made. The sea journey emits considerable amounts of CO2 in the process. Yet, electrifying the transportation -sector—which accounts for more than a third of global CO2 emissions—is key for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Putting more EVs on the roads and renewable energy in our grids will require more minerals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt to power the batteries they rely on. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), lithium demand has risen threefold since 2020 and is expected to triple again over the next decade. The overall demand for critical minerals for EVs is expected to grow sixfold by 2040. The question is: Where will they come from? Currently, the E.U. imports four-fifths of its extracted lithium and 100% of its processed lithium. While most of it is mined in Australia and South America, about three-quarters of the world's lithium is processed in China. But there's a growing push to build an EV-battery industry in Europe and North America by recycling lithium-ion batteries. '[EV] batteries really represent one of the first times that we can truly have a circular economy,' says Alexis Georgeson, government-relations executive at Redwood Materials, the largest lithium-battery recycler in the U.S. In contrast to materials like paper and plastic, the metal atoms of lithium or nickel can be infinitely recycled. 'If you take them out of a battery, that nickel atom is still there and you can refine it, purify it, and put it back into a battery, and it's going to perform just as well if not better,' she says. Recycling is a question not only of meeting rising demand, but also of building a local supply chain. Amid the trade war with the U.S., China has restricted exports of critical minerals. While President Trump has been championing fossil fuels, he's also trying to get his hands on more critical minerals, including through a deal this year with Ukraine. But the benefits of recycling EV batteries extend way beyond national interest. It's also more sustainable than constantly mining for new minerals. A recent Stanford-led study showed that the current industrial-scale process of recycling EV batteries emits less than half the greenhouse gases and uses only one-fourth the water and energy as mining new minerals, especially in locations with abundant renewable energy. While the EV market is still fairly new and growing, current models and batteries will need to be retired when they reach the end of their life in the coming decades, making recycling a key strategy to deal with them, says Xi Chen, an assistant professor in energy and environment at the City University of Hong Kong and one of the co-authors of the study. China, which was an early adopter of electrification, accounts for 80% of global EV battery-recycling capacity. Meanwhile, Europe and North America are still in the early phases of developing battery-recycling markets, which initially require large amounts of investment, experts say. Recycling involves carefully collecting disposed batteries—which are highly flammable—dismantling and discharging them. The batteries then go through a shredding process that generates so-called black mass—the shiny, metallic mixture from which metals can be extracted—by using either pyrometallurgy, a heat-based process that practically roasts the batteries, or hydro-metallurgy, which uses chemicals to separate the metals. The current refining processes are still quite rough, and 'there's lots of room to improve and really make the process more efficient,' says Chen. E.U. policymakers are looking to support the still nascent industry through a new set of regulations mandating producers to recover lithium from 50% of waste batteries by the end of 2027, going up to 80% by the end of 2031. They also establish mandatory minimum levels of recycled content for batteries, including 16% for cobalt and 6% for lithium and nickel. While many recyclers currently stop at producing black mass, Redwood Materials, which is led by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, is going further, specializing in cathode active material, which makes up the positive electrode of a battery as well as most of its cost. 'We are producing products that can actually go further downstream, back to battery-manufacturers ... you cannot send lithium to a gigafactory, they have no use for it,' says Georgeson. The automotive industry is exploring recycling too. Last year, the German luxury carmaker Porsche launched a pilot to explore how it could recycle its own lithium batteries and produce high-performance and long-lasting battery cells with recycled content, says Jonathan Hoerz, the head of strategy for circular economy at Porsche. 'If we really want to do sustainable electromobility in Europe, we need the recycling part,' he says.
Forbes
13 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Energy Efficiency Is A Strategic Imperative For Modern Businesses
Frederic Godemel is the Executive Vice-President for Energy Management at Schneider Electric. Despite numerous advances, energy efficiency is often misunderstood. Too frequently, it's equated with cost-cutting or making do with less. But for today's commercial leaders, efficiency is about unlocking resilience and growth. The days when efficiency was relegated to the operations team are over. Rising energy costs, unpredictable supply chains and mounting regulatory scrutiny have made energy efficiency a strategic priority. Organizations that recognize it as a core business lever, as opposed to just an operational afterthought, are outperforming their peers. It's fair to say that it's not just at the company level where this drive to decarbonize has supported growth. For instance, in 2022, "the EU had reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 34% compared to 1990 levels, with a 54% increase in GDP." Energy efficiency now means smarter and more adaptable operations. It's about using resources intelligently to drive profitability, agility and sustainability. The International Energy Agency calls energy efficiency the 'first fuel' of the clean energy transition, but for business, it's also the first fuel for competitive advantage. Digitalization And Electrification A key transformation is happening at the intersection of digitalization and electrification, where the two together are known as electricity 4.0. Digital tools such as smart sensors, connected devices and advanced analytics are giving businesses unprecedented visibility and control over their energy use and processes. Electrification, meanwhile, is replacing fossil-fuel-based systems with cleaner, more efficient electric alternatives. This makes it the most efficient energy source and the best vector for decarbonization. Given the volatility of fossil fuel prices and supplies, sustainable electrification could bring long-term energy security and autonomy. When combined, these forces are reshaping industries. Take, for example, a global manufacturer that uses digital sensors and AI-driven analytics to monitor and optimize its energy consumption in real time. These technologies help prevent unexpected equipment failures and production delays by detecting inefficiencies, predicting maintenance needs and adjusting energy usage based on demand. This cuts emissions and costs while also reducing downtime and keeping operations running smoothly. Greater digitalization helped one of our partners reduce energy consumption by 16%, but they've also managed to achieve a potential 120-ton reduction of CO2 every year. Gaining A Competitive Edge The value of energy efficiency goes far beyond reducing expenses and emissions. It's a shield against volatility and a springboard for innovation. Businesses that optimize energy use are less exposed to price shocks and supply chain disruptions. But beyond this, businesses can become prosumers (producers and consumers of energy) by installing technologies like solar panels and heat pumps. When combined with smart meters or grid interconnection, they can sell excess power back to the grid. Consider an office building that is equipped with rooftop solar panels and battery storage. During sunny months, it might generate more energy than it consumes. This not only lowers energy bills but transforms sustainability into a recruitment and brand asset. This demonstrates how the benefits of efficiency extend past the balance sheet. Efficient, sustainable operations are increasingly a signal of innovation and responsibility, qualities that resonate with customers, investors and regulators alike. BlackRock's 2025 Investor Letter underscored this point: Companies that demonstrate a clear commitment to efficiency and sustainability are more likely to attract long-term investment. The true ROI of efficiency isn't just measured in dollars or kilowatt-hours saved but reflected in the capital freed up for R&D and the time gained for strategic initiatives. Modern efficiency investments deliver cascading benefits: lower maintenance costs, happier and healthier employees and a stronger reputation in the marketplace. Efficiency also plays a crucial role in talent attraction and retention. Today's workforce wants to be part of organizations that are forward-thinking and responsible. Efficient, sustainable operations help position your business as an employer of choice. It's Time For Businesses To Respond Energy efficiency also has the capacity to be a front-line driver of business success. The organizations that thrive in the coming years will likely be those that move beyond outdated definitions and embrace efficiency as a strategic imperative. Getting started doesn't require massive capital or a sweeping transformation overnight. The first step is understanding your baseline by conducting an energy audit to identify where and how energy is being used (and wasted). From there, businesses can prioritize quick wins, like upgrading to LED lighting, installing smart thermostats or optimizing HVAC systems. Here, data is key: Real-time monitoring through digital sensors and analytics can uncover inefficiencies that would otherwise go unnoticed. Businesses can then take action to address them. Of course, challenges will arise, whether it's budget constraints or competing business priorities. But these can be overcome with the right strategy. Start small, set measurable goals and build a roadmap with short- and long-term milestones. Partnering with sustainability consultants can accelerate progress and reduce risks. Above all, embed efficiency into the culture of the organization, not as a compliance task, but as a lever for innovation, resilience and long-term value. The question is no longer whether you can afford to invest in efficiency. It's whether you can afford not to. Forbes Business Development Council is an invitation-only community for sales and biz dev executives. Do I qualify?
