50 GW Solar Milestone For India

• The cumulative installed solar power capacity of India as of January 31, 2022 went up to 50.3 GW, according to the MNRE
• It comprises 42.43 GW of ground mounted, 6.4 GW of rooftop and 1.46 GW of off-grid solar systems
• Rajasthan was on the top among states with 10.5 GW aggregate solar capacity followed by Karnataka with 7.5 GW and Gujarat with 6.3 GW

At the end of January 2022, India's cumulative installed solar power capacity exceeded the 50 GW milestone with the desert state of Rajasthan leading the tally having installed 10.5 GW in total, according to latest data released by the federal Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Rajasthan now accounts for over 20% of national solar capacity, according to state Energy Minister Bhanwar Singh Bhati who lauded the state's welcoming investment environment for the feat. There is much more in the pipeline as the state government recently entered memorandums of understanding (MoU) and letters of intent (LoI) for over 90 GW renewable energy capacity from various players, including 4 GW of PV manufacturing (see MoUs & LOIs For 90 GW+ RE In Rajasthan).

Karnataka follows next on the list with 7.5 GW solar installed till January 2022-end, and Gujarat with 6.3 GW PV capacity.

This 50.3 GW for India comes from 42.43 GW of ground mounted solar, 6.4 GW of rooftop PV and another 1.46 GW of off-grid solar systems. Since India's financial year runs from April to March, during FY 2021-22 (period covering April 1, 2021 to January 31, 2022), the addition in the stated categories came as 6.78 GW, 1.96 GW and 316.79 GW, respectively.

Mercom India Research previously pegged 9M/2021 solar installations in India at over 7.4 GW calling it one of the best years for solar in the country, but another consultancy Bridge to India calculated the numbers for the duration as 6.41 GW. JMK Research said the data added up to 8.8 GW for the same period (see Mercom: India Added 7.4 GW Solar In 9M/2021).

Recently, the CEEW-CEF Market Handbook from the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and Centre for Energy Finance (CEF) counted new non-hydro renewable energy capacity additions in 3^rd quarter of FY 2022 (period between October 2021 and December 2021) having dropped by 27% to 3.4 GW due to supply chain constraints, however solar energy comprised 92% of the additions. It was thanks mainly to a 142% increase in rooftop solar installations with 700 MW.

"Despite high solar module prices and the imminent basic customs duty, the tariff discovery continued to trend downwards this quarter (Q3/FY2022), with the lowest tariff discovered at INR 2.17/ kWh," said CEEW-CEF Research Analyst Ruchita Shah, adding, "While the pace of RE capacity addition is appreciable, it is highly dominated by solar energy and can be a threat to the power grid's stability going forward. Exploring alternatives such as hybridizing two RE technologies or blending RE with conventional resources is crucial for ensuring a stable power supply."

India has a target to install 100 GW solar capacity by December 31, 2022 and scale it up to 280 GW by 2030.