reported by, Srishti Chowdhary
edited by: Oindrila Mukherjee
Last Update: March 16, 2023, 07:00 AM IST
India had set a record 13 GW of solar capacity in 2022, up 27% year-on-year from 10.2 GW in 2021. (Image: Reuters / File)
A major portion of India’s renewable energy capacity comes from solar power, which contributes 63.89 GW, followed by large hydro at 46.85 GW and wind at 41.98 GW.
Setting the stage for a clean energy transition, India has so far installed 168.39 GW of renewable energy capacity, Power Minister RK Singh told Parliament on Wednesday. This includes 46.85 GW of large hydropower projects that have been given ‘renewable’ status by the central government.
A major portion of this comes from solar power, which contributes 63.89 GW to the entire renewable energy mix, followed by large hydro at 46.85 GW and wind at 41.98 GW. Bio-power provides only 10.73 GW followed by 4.94 GW from small hydropower. Besides this, 80.15 GW capacity is under implementation and 34.83 GW is under tender, the minister said.
India’s push for renewable energy is part of its larger commitment to meet 50 percent of its electricity needs from non-fossil fuel-based sources by 2030, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Glasgow last year.
While the country has missed its 2022 target of adding 175 GW of renewable energy generation capacity by December, it is now eyeing 2030 to meet its target of 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources. As of January 31, a total of 175.17 GW of capacity has been installed in India from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources, including 168.39 GW of renewable energy and 6.78 GW of nuclear power.
“We are at the cusp of an energy transition,” said Aditya Lola, senior electricity policy analyst at Ember Asia. “Short term, we may be a little behind target but the overall progress has been encouraging. We see significant new additions to solar and wind capacity in 2022. States like Gujarat show significant growth in wind power. This post-Covid and then the global energy crisis This has come after two years of sluggish growth due to the
India is set to install a record 13 GW of solar capacity in 2022, up 27 percent year-on-year from 10.2 GW in 2021, Mercom showed in its latest assessment. India’s solar capacity now stands at 63.89 GW as against the vision of 100 GW by 2022. But the deployment of rooftop solar remains a concern because of slow installation and apprehensions among distribution companies, or discoms, about potential revenue losses.
As of February, India has reported a total rooftop solar capacity of only 8.03 GW in the country. “We are certainly making progress on the right track, but the pace could be better. A lot of work needs to be done to ensure the smooth integration of renewable energy into the national grid. Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEA) “We cannot keep adding new capacity without considering its impact on the grid,” said Saloni Sachdeva Michael, energy analyst at IEEFA. “Also, we have to bring discoms on board. Most of them are debt-ridden. and are still apprehensive of further losses due to solar integration. Then, storage is another important area that needs equal attention.”
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