India cancelling huge coal power station because it wants to focus on renewable energy

Country wants to become a solar power leader by 2030

A solar farm near Amritsar in India, which is pushing renewable energy (Getty)

A planned coal fired mega power plant in India has been scrapped because the government wants to focus on green energy.

Gujarati state officials had planned a 4,000-Megawatt ultra-mega power project (UMPP).

It would have been the state of Gujarat’s second UMPP.

But the government decided the state was already sufficiently supplied with energy and focusing on renewables was a better longer term strategy.

“Gujarat had proposed the UMPP last year but we now feel we do not need more,” energy minister Chimanbhai Sapariya told the Business Standard. “We already have more than sufficient generation capacity.

“Our focus is now on renewable energy. The government will encourage solar power."

Gujarat relies on a mix of renewables and traditional power. Much of the renewable energy policy is focused around solar power and the Gujarati government plans to instal solar panels on rooftops in the state.

India aims to become a solar power leader and run off one terawatt (one million million watts) of the renewable by 2030, Energy Post reported.