• Mercom India Research’s India Solar Project Tracker says country had 30 GW of total solar power capacity till March 2019
  • This means it claims 8.4% of share out of all power capacity installed, and among renewables its share was 37.5%
  • Preliminary figures of Mercom’s tracker show total renewable capacity till the end of FY 2018-19 reached 80 GW

In FY 2018-19, India added a total of 6.5 GW PV, contributing to 28.78 GW of cumulative capacity, according to the numbers provided by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in April 2019 (see India Installed Only 6.5 GW Solar In FY 2018-19).

Now, market intelligence firm Mercom India Research says the cumulative solar power capacity of the country till March 2019 reached 30 GW. Having achieved 30% of the 100 GW solar goal by 2022, the country needs to add a whopping 70 GW in the next 3 years, points out Mercom.

Citing preliminary figures from its India Solar Project Tracker, Mercom said renewables comprise 22.3% of the country’s total installed capacity with solar accounting for 8.4%. Within renewables, solar’s share was 37.5% of the installed capacity of 80 GW.

Wind power scored over solar with 35 GW of total capacity installed by March 2019, even as fresh additions of this source were only 1.5 GW in FY 2018-19. Large hydropower, which is now counted as renewables by the government to be able to achieve 40% renewable energy generation by 2030 as committed in Paris Climate Agreement, was a cumulative of 45.3 GW or 12.66% of the total installed. No new nuclear power capacity was installed in the last financial year.

Thermal power capacity reached a total of 226 GW, representing 63.24% of all installed capacity in the country, while small hydro power grew by 2.4% with 107 MW installed in the period.