Endangered bird with poor vision stands in the way of India’s green goals

India’s bid to achieve certain climate goals are under threat, not from pollution or CO2 emissions but from a bird that is itself endangered. One of India’s most majestic birds, the Great Indian Bustard, has a poor frontal vision and scans the earth while gliding across the flat wastelands — ideal spots for putting up solar panels and wind turbines. While doing so the bird often collides with the power lines and turbines and dies.
This is unfortunate both for the bird and India’s renewable energy developers. India’s western borders, with wide-open region, are home to these rare birds. But the region is also an ideal location for wind and solar projects, a necessity if India has to meet its climate goals. 

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According to a survey by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), it was found that the birds died either due to the impact of the collision or electrocution. Apart from the transmission wires, a gradual transformation of grassland for farming or industrial projects and a slow birth rate (as bustards lay one egg every year or two) have also led to their diminishing numbers.
The Supreme Court had to step in in and sought that transmission lines present in the region go underground to save the endangered bird. The court said that all low-voltage lines, including existing ones, must be taken underground.

The energy companies said that the court directive could cost an extra $4 billion in expenses. This will imperil nearly 20 gigawatts of awarded solar and wind projects, they said. Adani Green Energy Ltd, ReNew Power Pvt and Acme Solar Holdings have projects in the area.

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“The whole renewable industry, especially solar, could come to a standstill. You won’t find land that easily anywhere else in the country,” Parag Sharma, chief executive officer at O2 Power Pvt., Jaisalmer was quoted as saying by NDTV.

As per the energy companies, the issue with the order is that – while the WII advised burying cables in a region which is the home for most of the birds, the court also called for action in potential habitats, that is, to expand the protection area and the cost burden for the companies.

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As per Pulipaka, CEO of industry lobby National Solar Energy Federation of India, shifting power lines underground can escalate project costs and power prices. It may go up by nearly 20%. Additional expenditure is estimated at around 300 billion rupees ($4 billion). Apart from this, India’s plans to expand its renewable power capacity by nearly five-fold to 450 gigawatts by the end of this decade are also hindered by the court’s ruling.

The matter reached the court when a petition was filed in 2019 by MK Ranjitsinh Jhala, a former-bureaucrat-turned-wildlife activist. Following which, the judges passed an order based on a report by the state-run Wildlife Institute of India, which stated that – “unless power line mortality is mitigated urgently, extinction of bustard’s is certain.”