Solar at Forefront of India’s Electricity Generation: IEEFA

A number of announcements in this April show momentum building. Solar technology continues to advance, with floating solar, hybrid wind-solar-battery and blended solar-thermal tariff developments now underway.

Touching yet another milestone India in the years 2017-2018 installed 10 GW of solar electricity capacity across the country. As compared to previous years the capacity addition is double in country’s entire solar base.

With the trends of growth and addition continuing the current gains have propelled the total cumulative capacity of India at 22 GW.

According to the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) ‘A number of announcements in this April show momentum building. Solar technology continues to advance, with floating solar, hybrid wind-solar-battery and blended solar-thermal tariff developments now underway.’

An assessment by IEEFA’s Director of Energy Finance Studies, Australasia, Tim Buckley and Research Associate Kashish Shah said “Cost deflation is likely to remain a medium-term trend as economies of scale are achieved, spurred in part by India’s development of the world’ largest solar project, the 2.2-GW Bhadla project in Rajasthan that is set to come online in 2019.”

The spike in the concerns about grid constraints have increased with the swell in renewable generation but at the same time if investments are put in properly the issues is manageable even if the installation per year is 20 GW, the IEEFA concluded.

Further, the report said the faster that India invests in renewables infrastructure the faster it can decarbonize its economy, but without the proper alignment of investment and domestic employment, the government will face political resistance to the upfront $300 billion investment required over the coming decade.