India added around 11.1GW of solar capacity from January to November, which is a 249% jump on installations for the same period last year, bringing its installed renewables capacity to roughly 104GW, according to research by JMK Research.
According to data from the country’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), solar now makes up approximately 47% of total renewable energy production, making it the largest contributor followed by wind (38%), bio power (10%) and small hydro (5%).
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From January to November, 7GW of utility-scale solar was added in India. The solar-heavy north-western state of Rajasthan made up almost half of this, adding 3,615MW, followed by Gujarat (1,538MW) and Uttar Pradesh (674MW).
But, a Bridge to India analysis conducted this month showed that deployment in the country is faltering as high module prices impact project construction.
In an interview with PV Tech earlier this year, the research company’s managing director Vinay Rustagi said he expected India to have around 65GW of installed solar capacity by the end of 2022, which will fall short of its target of deploying 100GW of solar by then. That is despite India having roughly 50GW of installed solar capacity at present, according to the research by JMK.
Indian solar’s story has been an uneven one when it comes to geography, with four states – Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra – accounting for more than two-thirds of all solar additions during the first eight months of this year. From January to September, India installed roughly 8.8GW of solar.
Meanwhile, India’s booming rooftop solar sector saw about 2.6GW of new capacity added during the January to November period. Gujarat added nearly 25% of rooftop solar capacity (660MW), followed by the states of Maharashtra (597MW), Haryana (266MW) and Rajasthan (225MW).
PV Tech Premium recently examined India’s solar industry. Through conversations with experts, we broke down the main sources of funding and support available to companies wanting to engage in this key growth market. Support schemes for both utility-scale and rooftop solar were included in the analysis.