Power outages are so common that we treat it as a part of our daily
lifves. Take, for example, the “Great Indian Outage of 2012”, when
cities from Kolkata to New Delhi were plunged into darkness for two days
(July 30, 31) – that’s almost 700 million people without electricity.
India has woken up to the fact that the only way out of this massive
electricity shortage can be by encouraging the development of the
renewable energy sector — wind, solar energy, biomass, small hydro and
energy efficiency initiatives. This is an indication of which direction
recruitment is bound to sway, given the stagnation of jobs in the IT
sector.
The India Energy [R]evolution report of 2012 jointly
commissioned by environmental group Greenpeace, the Global Wind Energy
Council and the European Renewable Energy Council predicts that the
renewable energy sector will generate around 24 lakh jobs by 2020. In
2012, the sector employed two lakh people, and with the right policies
and investments, this figure could multiply at least 14 times. The
report further states that by 2050, abot 92 per cent of India’s energy
infrastructure will be based on renewable energy sources, such as wind,
solar thermal energy and photovoltaic, which will comprise 74 per cent
of electricity generation.
The study also projected that the
country will experience immediate market development with high annual
growth rates. Abhishek Pratap, Greenpeace’s Senior Energy Campaigner in
India, said in a report to the press that the power outage is a reminder
that “coal and other fossil fuels have no future and their era of
dominance is over. A transition to renewable energy is the best and the
only option for the government to secure the future growth of our
nation.
With Narendra Modi being talked of as the country’s first
energy-literate Prime Minister, the NDA government is expected to give
the alternative energy sector a much-needed boost by harnessing solar
energy and developing offshore wind energy projects, not just because of
the potential to power our households and but also the job
opportunities that come with it.
With the fifth-largest power generation
portfolio worldwide (according to a report by (Ernst&Young,
“Renewable Energy in India: Status and Growth 2013”), India has
transitioned from being the seventh largest energy consumer in the year
2000 to the fourth largest within a decade. At our current consumption
rates, our coal reserves are projected to run out in 45 years. This
rapid growth of power capacity and a rise in demand can be credited to
our economic growth, growing rate of urbanisation, rising per capita
energy consumption and a widening access to energy in the country. The
Government of India launched the National Mission on Enhanced Energy
Efficiency (NMEEE) in June 2010 with an outlay of rS. 2.35 billion. By
2015, the mission is expected to result in savings of nearly 23 million
tonnes’ oil-equivalent of fuel in coal, gas and petroleum products.
Why it’s the smart way to go
India
ranks fourth and sixth globally as the largest importer of oil and
petroleum products and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), respectively,
according to the Ernst&Young report. Developing the renewable energy
sector will stand us in good stead to reduce our dependence on imports.
To help this along, the government is also now actively promoting the
industry by offering many incentives to players in the field for their
green initiatives with tax holidays and more. This field is known to be
scalable and increasingly cost competitive compared to the non-renewable
sources of energy. Plus, India has a huge potential for the market —
favoured by the harsh sun, coastal winds and plenty of bio-waste. What’s
more, our decreasing dependence on fossil fuels will settle the price
volatility and reduce our carbon footprint. It only makes sense to tap
into the favourable environment created by the government to generate
power.
Industry perspective
Director of
Rays Power Experts, a solar energy power generation company, Rahul
Gupta, is a graduate in civil engineering from IIT-Roorkee, and started
the company in 2010 right after completing his graduation. “There was no
other private solar power project existing at that point of time. It
took us a lot of effort to get the 5 MW project registered and approved
by the State government. Meanwhile, we started providing management
consultancy to individuals and corporates for investing in solar
projects and getting themselves registered with such projects. Finally
in March 2012, we got approvals from the government and managed to set
up India’s first solar power park across five acres of land. Our
business model and idea have been so successful that in a span of just
one year, the solar park has expanded from 5 acres to 200 acres of land
with the support of the government.
According to him, the scope is
huge for youngsters in the field. With the demand for setting up solar
plants by corporate and individuals increasing every day, the manpower
requirements have also gone up. “The industry has grown tremendously in
the past four years and is expected to rise further. The profile
requirement is functional — site job and managerial work. Engineers from
the technology background are a must in the renewable energy sector, as
she/he would be able to set up a plant on site and look after the
on-ground activities, like field projects and construction work, he
says, and ensure smooth execution of the projects. With more than 150
people employed with them currently, Rahul says the biggest issue they
face is getting efficient manpower with technology background and sound
experience.
Tackling the perception that the renewable energy
sector doesn’t pay as well as other sectors that engineers are usually
employed in, Rahul says, “If this were true, then the industry would not
have shown an increase in installed solar capacity from 30 MW in 2010
to 2000 MW in 2013. The World Bank’s recent report has also highlighted
the fact that India is set to achieve 20,000 MW of solar power capacity
by 2022. The industry offers high scope and potential to grow for all
the youngsters and employees who are capable of performing well.”
The industry is made for
engineers, and if they showcase good work then the field is truly
rewarding. The industry hires BTech or BE graduates, from the civil or
electrical streams. For the business development profile and sales team,
they look for graduates who have done BTech and have pursued an MBA.
Prof
Rangan Banerjee, the Forbes Marshall Chair Professor at the Department
of Science and Energy, IIT-Bombay, informs us about the master’s and PhD
programmes offered at IIT-B and admits to the perception of
differential salaries that exist between mainstream engineering job
opportunities versus those in the renewable sector. “But salaries have
now improved and plenty of our students get good offers. We have also
noticed that with lack of big players in the sector, many of our
graduates are thinking in terms of startups, which guarantee an entire
spectrum of experience. The skills sets then transcend boundaries.”
BTech-MTech
dual degree programmes at IIT with a minor in energy can help you get a
good foundation, he believes. The rest you can pick up on the job.
“Education cannot be so tailor-made. Demands of every job and industry
keep changing. Be prepared to evolve and stay up-to-date with
technology,” he says.
Going beyond engineering education, Dean -
Consulting and Advancement, and Professor of Economics at Management
Development Institute, Gurgaon, Atmanand is also Independent Director
at SAIL, Govt of India. He teaches economics and power energy.
“Renewable energy means a great future for employment, GDP, growth,
investment and capital flows with the government policy also embracing
growth in solar and wind energy sector. The requirement for green energy
is growing fast. While the initial costs may be high, it has the
capacity to give increasing returns.”
Over the past year, the
ambit of the project has been broadened from power to other spheres of
energy — oil and gas, coal, carbon market and energy efficiency. MDI has
also tied up with ESCP Europe business school, for the Energy
Management Programme, in 2011. They train professionals (with at least
4-5 years’ work experience) from companies involved in power
distribution, power generation, oil marketing, oil exploring and
transporting, power transmission and energy/power infrastructure
financing, apart from consultancy firms, NGOs and governmental agencies
working in the areas of energy management, such as energy efficiency,
new and renewable energy, clean energy technologies, biofuels and
sustainable development. Graduates in engineering, BCom, BBA, etc, can
apply.
“LANCOR and Moser Baer are some of the good pay masters who
hire people for mid-career jobs in the renewable energy sector. General
packages are between `15-20 lakh per annum, depending on the calibre of
the student,” says Prof Atmanand, who adds, “The problem is in lack of
awareness. Jobs in the IT sector have reached saturation, whereas the
green energy sector is set for a boom. The next revolution we can expect
is that of Energy Revolution.”
He also says that carbon financing and carbon credits is another arena which professionals might want to pursue. Great
Lakes Institute of Management, with campuses in Chennai and New Delhi,
also offers a two-year Postgraduate Programme in Energy Management, to
develop the next generation of leadership in the energy sector. The
programme offers dual specialisation with domain specialisation in
Power, Oil and Gas, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency and
Sustainable Development in addition to functional specialisations.
Rajesh
Kumar, a student of the energy management course at MDI is a mechanical
engineer who worked as a core mechanical design engineer for over seven
years. “For the past five years, I have been engaged in the designing
of Hydro Power equipments (Large Hydro Generator). I have seen that
hydro power in India is still untapped to its full potential. There is a
huge gap between what we can generate and what we are generating. There
is a huge scope of investment in the energy sector — both renewable as
well as fossil fuels. MDI’s Energy Management course equips us with the
tools and skills to excel in this field and ensure that we use the best
industrial practices.”
He believes there are plenty of
opportunities after the course in the fields of energy demand and
forecasting or consulting. “My classmates here at MDI are making
themselves ready for higher roles in the field of operations management,
marketing and energy consulting in the power industry and oil and gas
sector,” he says.
Most lessons include classroom interactions,
case-study driven pedagogy, guest lectures and industry exposure,
project work and internships that can equip you to take on leadership
roles in the renewable energy sector.
With the government,
industry and academic sectors waking up to the opportunity of changing
the career trajectories of many professionals in the country to solve
the country’s energy crisis, it seems to be the right time to opt for a
green career.
Source THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
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