Shares of coal in total power capacity dropped below 50 percent for the first time since 1966, while renewable energy accounted for 71.5 percent of the record 13,669 megawatts (MW) power generation capacity added by India in the January-March period, according to a report.
According to the latest POWERup quarterly report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), this is well ahead of the Indian government’s target to establish 50 percent cumulative power generation capacity from non-fossil fuel-based sources by 2030.
The decline mirrors a global trend, with demand for coal in G7 countries plumbing record lows in 2023, levels not seen since 1900, said IEEFA, JMK Research & Analytics and Ember, an energy think tank, in a joint press release.
Large-scale renewable energy projects in India have been the focus of intense interest, as evidenced by tender issuances crossing a record 69 gigawatts (GW), according to a report, Utility-scale renewable energy tendering trends in India, released this week by IEEFA and JMK Research. The tenders issued for utility-scale renewable energy projects in FY24 far surpassed the government’s seemingly ambitious target of 50GW, it said.
“After a slump from 2019 to 2022 due to supply-chain issues and global price spikes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the market has rebounded and gone from strength to strength,” said Vibhuti Garg, Director – South Asia, IEEFA.
“There is strong investor interest in the Indian utility-scale renewable energy market. The primary reasons are the large-scale potential for market growth, central government support in terms of targets and regulatory frameworks, and higher operating margins,” added Garg.
According to Ember’s fifth annual Global Electricity Review of 80 countries, India has rocketed to third in the world’s solar power generation rankings, behind only China and the US. Solar was the world’s fastest-growing electricity source for the 19th straight year, adding more than twice as much new electricity as coal last year, the press release said.
“India had the world’s fourth-largest increase in solar generation in 2023 (+18 teraWatt hours/TWh), behind China (+156TWh), the US (+33TWh) and Brazil (+22TWh). The top four countries accounted for three-quarters of solar growth in 2023,” it added.
The report said that since 2000, the share of global electricity from renewables has expanded from 19 percent to more than 30 percent, driven by an increase in solar and wind from 0.2 percent in 2000 to a record 13.4 percent in 2023.
India, on the other hand, has been unable to shed its dependence on coal, the report noted. Adverse weather conditions and surging power demand mean the country continues to rely on coal for over 70 percent of its electricity generation, it added.
“The situation is unlikely to change this year, with the Central Electricity Authority expecting a shortfall in hydropower, leading to power shortages, especially during the night when solar is offline,” it said.
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