In Short : India is striving to achieve its ambitious target of 25 GW in renewable energy capacity by the end of the fiscal year 2023-24. The Secretary, likely referring to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), highlighted the urgency and commitment in advancing the country’s renewable energy agenda. This underscores India’s determination to enhance its clean energy infrastructure and reduce carbon emissions, aligning with its climate goals and the global shift toward sustainable energy sources.
In Detail : The government is confident of achieving renewable energy capacity of 25 giga watt (GW) for the current financial year, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said on Wednesday.
“Last year we have reached about 15 GW total capacity. This year we hope to reach 25 GW,” Bhalla told FE. “Next year we will target much more. Even next year we may not achieve 50 GW capacity but the following year we will,” he said.
The government has set target of tripling its renewable energy to 500 GW by the year 2030 which experts believe will require an addition of 50 GW of RE capacity every year. So far, in the first half of the current financial year, India has added 6.6 GW of RE capacity, as per the data available from the Central Electricity Authority.
“Currently, we have bided 20.8 GW capacity and we are targeting for 50 GW,” Bhalla said. These only include central bids and not state, the secretary said on the sidelines of the curtain raiser of the 6th assembly of International Solar Alliance.
Further, the government is targeting for a larger share of solar energy capacity addition among all the other renewable energy sources options.
After a dull first half, the capacity addition in India’s renewable energy sector is expected to increase in the second half of the financial year FY24 owing to lower prices of solar modules and relaxation of the approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM) by the government which may enable developers to commission many of the delayed projects by the year end, analysts say.
The RE capacity addition was slow during the first half of the current financial year mostly because the projects were delayed due to supply-chain challenges.
Contrary to the above, so far, renewable auctions are lower than the 15-20 GW annual run-rate required for the country to meet its target of 500 GW RE capacity by 2030, Jefferies said in a recent report. Of this, solar and hybrid accounted for 69% and 13% of the bids.
India meets around 23% of its total power requirement through REs and as much as 74% from thermal power sources. The target is to increase the share of RE in the energy mix to 40% by 2030.
The government has projected the RE installed capacity at 596 GW by 2032 in its National Electricity Plan released in May. It has also envisaged an investment of $410 billion for power capacity addition during 2022-2032.
