Ahead of the seven-phase elections to the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of Parliament, starting April 17, 2024, the two major political parties in the fray have committed themselves to implementing a plethora of energy transition initiatives. In their manifestos, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Indian National Congress have outlined their vision for adopting renewable energy to achieve energy independence. The manifesto of the BJP, which has been governing India since 2014 and is seeking a third consecutive term, has detailed programs it plans to undertake on the renewable energy front.

Solar engineering, procurement, and construction company Mahindra Susten, in collaboration with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, said it will develop a 150 MW hybrid renewable power project involving an investment of ₹12 billion (~$143.8 million). The project will comprise ~101 MW of wind and ~52 MW of solar capacity, the company said in a bourse filing. Scheduled for commissioning within the next two years, it will incorporate over 80% locally manufactured components. Upon completion, the project will supply clean energy to commercial and industrial customers in Maharashtra, generating around 460 million kWh of energy and offsetting nearly 420,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

Nearly 12,000 power projects, an overwhelming majority based on renewable sources, representing a combined capacity of 1,570 GW and 1,030 GW for storage, are in interconnection queues in the U.S. Renewable sources constitute 95% of the total capacity in the active queue. Over 94% or about 1,480 GW of the proposed generation capacity is zero-carbon, according to a recent Berkeley Lab report. Utilities and regional grid operators mandate that projects wishing to link to the grid must undergo a sequence of assessments before construction. This procedure determines the potential necessity for new grid system enhancements before a project can integrate into the system, estimating and allocating the associated equipment costs.