Rising from the bare expanse of the largest salt desert that separates India from Pakistan is what will likely be the world’s largest renewable project when completed three years from now. The solar and wind project will be so big that it will be visible from space according to developers of what is called the Khavda renewable energy park named after the village nearest to the project site.
At the site thousands of labourers install pillars on which solar panels will be mounted The pillars rise like perfectly aligned concrete cactuses that stretch as far as the eye can see. Other workers are building foundations for enormous wind turbines to be installed, they are also transporting constructional material, building substations, and laying wires for miles.
When completed, the project will be as large as Singapore spreading out 726 sq.km that is 280 square miles. The Indian government estimated that it will cost around 2.26 billion.
Uniqueness of the Project
What makes this heavy industrial activity peculiar is that it is taking place in the middle of the Rann of Kutch which is Indian state of Gujarat. The Rann is an unforgiving salt deserts and marshland at least 70km (43.5km) from the nearest human habitation ,but just a short truck ride away from one of the worlds most tense international border officially called International Boundary (IB) between two South Asian Giants, namely India and Pakistan.
Challenges to Workers
When an American media agency visited the renewable energy park, two days of unseasonal heavy rains had left the ground muddy and water logged since the only escape for water in this region is evaporation. This has made the working conditions of the workers as nasty as it can get.
Notwithstanding the tough conditions, an estimated 4000 workers and 500 engineers have been living in makeshift camps for the better part of the past year toiling to get this project up and running.
Once completed, it will supply 30 gigawatts of energy (renewable energy) annually enough to power nearly 18 million homes. As India aims to install 500 GW of clean energy by the end of the decade and to reach the net emissions by 2070, this project site will likely contribute significantly to the worlds most populous nations transitions to producing energy from non-carbon spewing sources.
The need for Renewable Energy
Shifting to renewable energy is a key issue at ongoing COP28 climate summit Some leaders have voiced support for a target of tripling renewable energy worldwide in any final agreement while curbing use of coal, oilo,and natural gas which spew planet warming gases into the atmosphere.
As things stand, India is still mostly powered by fossil fuels especially coal, which generate more than 70 percent of India’s electricity. Renewable energy currently contributes 10 percent of India’s electricity needs. India is also currently the third largest emitter of planet warming gases behind China and the United States.
Working Conditions
There are people working here from all over India, said KSKR project head for Adani Green Energy Limited, the renewable energy arm of thr Adani group which the Indian government has contracted to build 20 gigawatts of the project. Verma with over 35 years of experience of building dams across South Asia’s turbulent rivers and enormous gas tanks (natural gas) under the Bay of Bengal says that this is the most challenging project.
It is not at all an easy site to work at, there is no habitation, the land is marshy and lot of high winds, rains and above all it is an earthquake prone zone area said Vineet Jain, the managing director of Adani Green at its headquarters in the city of Ahmedabad. Jain who has over seen multiple projects for the Adani group said that the first six months were spent just building basic infrastructure. From April 2023, this year is when we started working on the actual project,” he added.
Environmental Impact
While acknowledging the importance of transitioning to renewable energy, the environmental experts and social activists say that India’s decision to allow clean energy projects without any environmental impact assessments is bound to have adverse consequences.
“The salt desert is a unique landscape that is rich in flora and fauna, including flamingos, desert foxes, and migratory bird species that fly from Europe and Antarctica to winter this region, according to Abi T Vanak a conservation scientist with the Bengaluru based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and environment. Vanak has overseen multiple environment related research projects in th Kutch Region.
The Rann of Kutch and other similar regions are classified as wastelands by the Indian government and Vanak says this is extremely unfortunate. “They are not recognised as valid ecosystems,” he said. With renewable energy projects exempt from environmental impact assessments. There is no system in place to determine the best places for them according to Sandip Virmani, an environmentalist based in Kutch.
A little over 45,000 square kilometers (17,374) square miles, the Kutch District is as big as Denmark and is India’s largest district. Given this, Virmani said there is enough land in Kutch for various energy projects, But at the same time he is apprehensive about dairies and local businesses in the region might be impacted by large scale projects. It has to be in the context of not compromising on another economy,” he said.
Meanwhile longtime residents are still waiting to see how this huge project near their village will affect them. Hirelal Rajde, 75 who has spent most of his life in Khavda is mindful of the upcoming energy project as well as the increase in tourism in recent years in this otherwise desolate region> I think that these developments are good, said Rajde.
