During Q2/CY2022, India installed more than 3.9 GW solar power capacity, having gone up 18% on sequential basis, and 59% annually, led by large scale projects that accounted for 90% deployments, according to Mercom India Research. It sees it as the best quarter for solar to date for the country.
Large scale solar additions made up 3.5 GW of the total that alone increased 23% QoQ and 82% YoY with rooftop solar adding remaining 10%. Rajasthan and Maharashtra were the top states in the space. In Q1 CY2022, large scale solar additions were a total of 2.7 GW and rooftop additions took the total to over 3 GW (see India Added 3GW+ Solar Capacity In Q1 CY2022).
In its Q2 2022 India Solar Market Update, Mercom analysts count India to have installed 7.2 GW solar in H1/2022, a 59% annual increase. It is however less than 8.4 GW that another market research firm JMK Research and Analytics claimed for the period while forecasting the country to exit 2022 with 20 GW capacity (see India's H1/2022 PV Installations Up 71% To 8.4 GW).
"Even with mounting challenges from supply constraints and rising costs, India had its best quarter and first half ever for solar," said Mercom Capital Group CEO Raj Prabhu. "Unfortunately, what could have been a spectacular year is now filled with uncertainty and possible delays due to the Supreme Court Ruling in the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) case in Rajasthan. Still, India is on a path to its best year in solar."
For the uninitiated, GIB is the state bird of Rajasthan and is considered a critically endangered species. High tension wires for renewable energy projects connected to electricity poles are threatening their existence with electrocution. In April 2020, the Supreme Court of India ordered the wires to be laid underground to protect the birds, which has pushed up renewable project costs here.
The court has also now specified technical standards for installing bird diverters on overhead transmission cables here.
Mercom counts cumulative PV installations in the country to have reached 57 GW. More than 57 GW utility scale projects are currently in the development pipeline as 37 GW tendered projects await auction.
The full Mercom report can be purchased from its website.