Adopting a Theatre Command approach towards India’s RE strategy could help it achieve its
decarbonisation goals swiftly
Any reference to the word ‘war’ attracts controversies and evokes a negative connotation. However, the word ‘fight’ is positioned relatively favourably in the human lexicon and is frequently used in the context of actions taken to counter anthropogenic climate change and inter-party competition in electoral democracies and sporting arenas. In the military context, a ‘fight’ invokes intense emotions and a determination to overcome all possible obstacles to accomplish specific missions. All agencies and processes forego their silos and single-mindedly focus on leveraging their collective resources and capabilities to achieve a goal within pre-determined timelines. With the ‘fight’ against climate change entering increasingly consequential stages for the survival of diverse species, including humans, there may be management frameworks that can be borrowed from the ‘theatre-based command’ approach of the armed forces for rapid installation of renewable energy (RE) assets and evacuation of ‘green’ power from harsh/remote environments like deserts and high-seas for decarbonisation of India’s economy. This cohesive approach allows for personnel, assets, infrastructure, and logistics to be integrated to achieve the most favourable outcomes. Such tri-service common defence stations are expected to be strategically located nationwide with plans for interconnected logistics nodes.
India’s energy demands are rapidly rising—not only due to its growing economy but also to meet the cooling needs of households in summer at an affordable price. Simultaneously, there is a need to reduce the carbon intensity of its economy significantly. India aims to achieve 500+ GW of non-fossil fuel-based energy generation capacity by 2030 and likely add 500-1,000 GW of capacity in each decade from 2030 to 2050 to reach zero by 2070. It is not only RE generation plants but a massive addition of green hydrogen, transmission and distribution, and battery capacity.
India’s energy demands are rapidly rising—not only due to its growing economy but also to meet the cooling needs of households in summer at an affordable price.
However, it must first solve the jigsaw puzzle of ‘time, place, and quantity’ for RE. Establishing land-based giga-scale solar/wind/hybrid power parks along with harnessing the solar/wind potential of the shallow and high-seas are very much part of this game. Most techno-commercially viable locations are in remote/hinterland locations and are classified as ‘un-utilised/un-surveyed/waste zones’ by governments. The Rann of Kutch and Thar desert serve as prominent examples. Such locations have harsh geological conditions and are typically near the international border on land/sea. They need detailed remote/drone/physical surveys and significant geological engineering-based interventions to prepare them to deploy RE assets. After that, installing solar panels, wind turbines, inverters, transformers, etc., at the sites and their smooth operations entail making available utilities like water, drainage, data cables, security, and surveillance mechanisms. The human side of these projects adds a new dimension to this endeavour. The creation of houses, hospitals, schools, security services, markets, access roads, warehouses, access to potable water, connectivity, public health, etc., become an inalienable part of the project. Moreover, the smooth integration of large numbers of newly relocated workforce in the hitherto untouched socio-economic fabric of these remote locations must be facilitated carefully. Similar requirements also arise along areas touched by green-field transmission lines laid from these RE-generating sites to demand centers. As nature’s elements are in full force in such locations, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) must also be primed for this emerging theatre of action.
Such movement of people and material resources across the country for giga-scale projects requires governments to work in tandem with the private sector and non-government organisations. A spectrum of union ministries like New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Ministry of Power (MoP), Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Ministry of Home (MoH), Ministry of Health, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), etc. must work closely with corresponding departments of the state/local governments. As these projects’ locations typically abut international borders, the role of the Ministries of External Affairs and Defense, along with the Departments of Space, becomes crucial. As the fight against climate change becomes more intense, governments must emerge as a unified, credible RE force multiplier instead of a tapestry of its myriad departments and agencies.
Such movement of people and material resources across the country for giga-scale projects requires governments to work in tandem with the private sector and non-government organisations.
To achieve the above positioning, people and resource management frameworks created for ‘Theatre Commands’ by India’s armed forces can help create region-specific standard operating procedures (SOPs)/models to synchronise all government stakeholders for giga-scale RE projects. When appropriately calibrated, these interventions can help optimise India’s public resource deployment and live up to the standards of accountability and transparency expected by global RE players/financial agencies.
The proactive readiness displayed by India can serve as a global template for RE planning and deployment. It can usher in a new era of decarbonisation by bridging the gap between RE project planning and execution.
The proactive readiness displayed by India can serve as a global template for RE planning and deployment. It can usher in a new era of decarbonisation by bridging the gap between RE project planning and execution.
Views are personal and do not represent that of the author’s employers.
Labanya Prakash Jena is working as a sustainable finance specialist at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and is an advisor at the Climate and Sustainability Initiative (CSI).
Prasad Ashok Thakur is an alumnus of IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad.
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Labanya Prakash Jena is working as a sustainable finance specialist at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and is an advisor at the ...
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Prasad Ashok Thakur is a CIMO scholar and has authored a book and several articles published with The World Bank Asian Development Bank Institute United ...
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