The primary objective of the Devarahipparigi Wind Power Project involves the deployment and operation of 100GW of wind capacity in Karnataka state of India. The project is grid-connected, so this means it delivers clean power to the wider power system to displace existing fossil fuel power. Over the lifetime of the projects reporting period it will help avoid the release of 268,604 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
The project also aims to deliver localised co-benefits that align with the Sustainable Development Goals. These are as follows:
Goal 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation: from this project, 4,000 people from local villages will receive a clean drinking water supply
Goal 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy: during the monitoring period, 263,489MWh of renewable power is delivered to the grid.
Goal 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth: A customised training programme for engineers and plant operators has been developed for workers on this project; skills which bolster the development of the low carbon supply chain in Karnataka.
Goal 13 - Climate Action: the generation of 283,489MWh of clean power from the project equates to the avoidance of 268,604 tonnes of CO2
Goal 15 - Life on Land: As part of the project, the developers have organised a plantation drive for the area, planting 1,300 tree saplings during the project monitoring period.
The purpose of the project activity is to enable the generation of energy by converting wind to electricity and selling it to the grid for consumption in homes, businesses and industry across the Karnataka.
Supporting the decarbonisation of India's grid is of global importance. To-date, around 75% of India's electricity mix is from fossil fuels, the power system is responsible for around 50% of the country's total emissions (2.5 billion tonnes per year), and is the third dirtiest in the world (after Poland and South Africa).
As the generation of renewable power from wind and solar does not require the burning of any fossil fuels, it can start to curb India's runaway annual CO2 emissions. The financing of these projects is critical in helping them scale-up and displace existing fossil fuel. The estimated annual average GHG emission reductions from the project activity will be 268,604 tonnes of CO2.
Carbon offsets help make this project possible by providing the necessary financing to make these energy installations cost-competitive with legacy fossil fuel technology in the region. This 'additionality' of carbon offsetting is critical for supporting the early deployment of renewable energy. As low carbon solutions are more widely deployed in developing countries such as India, supply chains will be built, the workforce will be upskilled, and these solutions will being to proliferate across the country. Importantly, additionality is a prerequisite for the environmental integrity of any carbon credit, protecting the buyer’s claim to have enabled climate mitigation and underpinning the integrity of offsetting and other financial claims.
According to International Energy Agency data, just 4.23% of India's total energy supply came from solar and wind in 2018, despite the countries vast solar and wind resource, demonstrating the critical need to support the scaling of this technology immediately.
The project has also allocated additional resources to provide localised co-benefits in the surrounding area, through a tree planting initiative and the installation of a well for local villagers.
