India’s race to 175 GW of renewables slowed by performance of key states

From pv magazine India

A new report by global think tank Ember shows that four of India’s states and union territories have already surpassed their 2022 renewable capacity targets, as India pursues aa target of 175 GW of clean energy installations by December 2022. However, 27 states and union territories have yet to achieve even half of their respective targets and will need a big step up to meet them by the end of the year.

The “India’s Race to 175 GW” report shows that India had installed 110 GW of renewable energy capacity (excluding large hydro) as of March 2022, which is 63% of the 175 GW target. With 54 GW of solar capacity and 40 GW of wind capacity on the grid, the nation is at half of its solar power target and two-thirds of its wind power target for 2022.

As of March, the states of Telangana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar had surpassed their end-of-year targets. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are also inching closer to their targets. Uttarakhand and Sikkim are the only other Indian states that have achieved more than 50% of their targets.

The report says that all states need to contribute, as the nation will need 65 GW more in the next nine months to meet its renewable energy target of 175 GW by December. Five key Indian states account for two-thirds of this 65 GW shortfall: Maharashtra (11 GW), Uttar Pradesh (10 GW), Andhra Pradesh (9 GW), Madhya Pradesh (7 GW), and Tamil Nadu (5 GW). 

“Lack of progress in key states is holding back India’s race to 175 GW,” said Aditya Lolla, a senior electricity policy analyst for Ember. “Solar and wind deployments need a big push in the coming months to drive India closer to this target.”

Solar needs 85% growth in the next nine months to meet its 100 GW target by the end of 2022. Wind power needs almost a 50% increase in the next three quarters to reach the 60 GW target.

India is aiming for 450 GW of renewables and 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030. With 110 GW already installed, the nation needs to deploy 340 GW of new renewable energy capacity (on average, 42.5 GW of renewable energy per year for the next eight years) to meet the 2030 target.

That would require the country’s solar capacity to rise fivefold to 280 GW from 54 GW and wind to rise fourfold to 140 GW during this period. This translates to 29 GW of new solar and 12.5 GW of new wind capacity additions every year on average until the end of this decade – a far faster pace than the nation’s record annual addition of 15 GW renewable energy (14 GW of solar and 1 GW wind) in fiscal 2021-22. 

The report says it is more than possible for India to deliver on its 2030 targets of 450 GW of renewable energy or 500 GW opf non-fossil capacity if all states are fully engaged and aligned with the national targets.