Promise and Pitfalls: Clean Energy in India
Alex Laplaza ’20 was a Global Green Scholar at ReNew Energy in Gurugram, India. He is a rising second-year student in the Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy (MIP) program.
The story of the global energy transition is being written in India. As the fastest growing major economy of the past decade, India has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and into an increasingly urban and energy-hungry middle class. Coal has fueled most of this growth, choking its citizens with pollution and threatening to overwhelm the fight for a stable climate. Yet, the government is now switching tact, zealously accelerating clean energy deployment to address a long wish-list of governance priorities, including energy security and access, economic development, environmental degradation and international climate commitments. Nowhere else in the world is the challenge — and opportunity — of clean energy greater than in India.
For these reasons, I was motivated to gain on-the-ground experience working on clean energy in India. Beyond energy, I believe the strategic importance of India — already a major global geopolitical actor — will also continue to grow significantly in the 21st century. I wanted to learn from its history, its economy and its people.
I spent the summer working as a summer associate at ReNew Power, India’s largest clean energy producer. Given ReNew’s prominence, the Indian central government routinely seeks the company’s input on a number of energy-policy challenges and proposals. Accordingly, ReNew seeks to have informed positions. I worked closely with the vice president of regulatory affairs and was tasked with providing research analysis on proximate and systemic reforms to promote the cost-effective and secure integration of clean energy into India’s power grid.
Given my relatively little experience and knowledge of the Indian power sector (and India more broadly), I recognized that I needed to be humble, realistic and strategic if I were to provide value beyond my own personal growth. Ultimately, I drafted a report that examined lessons from other markets with high levels of clean energy — including Germany, the United Kingdom, California and Texas — that offer lessons relevant to India. I also had the opportunity to attend India-specific energy conferences and even attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech.
I was also able to travel widely during the summer, both within India (Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh), as well as beyond (Sri Lanka and Indonesia). Of course, the MIP family extends to all corners of the globe. In India I traveled extensively with fellow MIP students, Ben Polsky and Anoma Bhat. In Sri Lanka, Ben and I were graciously hosted by Prof. Chonira Aturupane, and we shared a wonderful evening with her family in Colombo.
Overall, I gained a deep understanding of both the promises and pitfalls of clean energy in India. I learned that India will face intractable challenges as it aims for ever-greater levels of clean energy. But I also witnessed the profound human potential of India. In both clean energy and beyond, India has accomplished remarkable feats, achieving what many deemed impossible. In India I witnessed a different kind of growth story, one that promises planetary restoration and a pathway out of poverty for hundreds of millions.
