Latest from IEEFA South Asia: Coal: A heavy burden on the Indian Railways, Towards a rooftop solar transition in Bangladesh and other updates

Welcome to the ninth edition of IEEFA Asia Pacific Insights LinkedIn #newsletter featuring some quick insights on the issues related to energy markets, trends and policies focused on a sustainable and profitable #energy economy.

In this edition, we bring light to our new releases in South Asia by:

• Shantanu Srivastava, CFA , Gaurav Upadhyay and Tanya Rana (PowerPulse: India Corporate Dashboard newsletter). The second edition of this newsletter examined the quarterly performance of several publicly listed power companies in India. In the second quarter most companies on our tracking list witnessed significant topline growth, with share price growth for almost all companies in the green over the last quarter. The investment scenario in the power sector also improved with companies raising funds both from the debt and equity markets. Subscribe to the newsletter.
• Charles Worringham (Coal: A heavy burden on the Indian Railways) on the challenges to the ambitious coal-by-rail targets.
• Shafiqul Alam (Towards a rooftop solar transition in Bangladesh) on the six key levers to help Bangladesh accelerate rooftop solar.
• Jyoti Gulia , Prabhakar Sharma , Vibhuti Garg and Charith Konda (Energy storage: Connecting India to clean power on demand) on the energy storage systems will be the major disruptor in India’s power market in the 2020s.

Coal: A heavy burden on the Indian Railways

KEY FINDINGS

• India’s plans for expanding coal freight by rail face congestion and logistical challenges, divert resources from vital network upgrades, and impose an opportunity cost on a growing economy.
• There are several indications that network congestion is returning to pre-pandemic levels following a temporary, lockdown-related easing.
• New rail projects for coal frequently delay urgent network maintenance and upgrades.
• Accelerating clean energy and recognising coal’s network congestion effects can enable the Indian Railways to better serve a changing economy.

"The prioritisation of coal freight presents opportunity costs for the Indian Railways and more broadly, the economy." Charles Worringham , author of the report.

Read the full report: Coal: A heavy burden on the Indian Railways

Towards a rooftop solar transition in Bangladesh

KEY FINDINGS

• Upscaling the rooftop solar sector requires risk-mitigation instruments, business models for utilities, waiver of import duties on solar accessories and easing the letter of credit opening process.
• While the economic benefits of rooftop solar are clear, its slow progress shows the sector is held back by a lack of awareness, low confidence, perceived risks, high import duties, and tight fiscal conditions.
• New rooftop solar capacity of 2,000MW could save the Bangladesh Power Development Board between Tk52.3billion (US$476 million) and Tk110.32 billion (US$1 billion) a year.
• Awareness raising, capacity development of stakeholders and quality assurance of accessories will help build trust in rooftop solar.

"Rooftop solar is disproportionately affected by high import duties as opposed to utility-scale solar projects." Shafiqul Alam , author of the report.

Read the full report: Towards a rooftop solar transition in Bangladesh

Energy storage: Connecting India to clean power on demand

KEY FINDINGS

• Energy storage systems (ESS) will be the major disruptor in India’s power market in the 2020s.
• ESS will attract the highest investment of all emerging sectors as renewable energy’s penetration of the electricity grid ramps up.
• Pumped hydro is dominating the ESS market, accounting for more than half of grid-scale tender capacity awarded in India in 2023.
• New demand-driven renewable energy (FDRE) tenders will help reduce India’s reliance on coal and other conventional power sources.

“Globally, power systems across different regions are undergoing a pivotal phase of development.” Vibhuti Garg, contributing author of the report.

Read the report - Energy storage: Connecting India to clean power on demand

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