- Mercom’s latest report estimates India to have installed 3.6 GW new solar capacity in CY H1/2023
- It includes 1.7 GW added in Q2/2023 comprising 1.3 GW large-scale and 391 MW rooftop solar capacity
- Project delays and postponements for various reasons are likely to pull down overall additions for 2023, but 2024 should see strong growth
Delays, extensions and postponements pulled down Indian solar PV installations by 53% annually to 3.6 GW in calendar year (CY) H1/2023, taking the cumulative capacity of this clean energy generation source in the country to exceed 66 GW at the end of June 2023, according to Mercom India Research.
Managing Director of Mercom India Priya Sanjay explained the delays were due to various reasons, including the New and Renewable Energy Ministry extending commissioning deadlines until March 2024, thrice between December 2022 and June 2023.
Challenges were compounded by module price fluctuations, supply constraints and uncertainties around the Approved list of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM), land acquisitions, power evacuation and power purchase agreement tariff reapproval from state regulatory commissions.
Several projects await clarity from the Supreme Court to access transmission lines in the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) region.
Due to the reasons mentioned above in Mercom’s Q2 2023 India Solar Market Update, Mercom Capital Group CEO Raj Prabhu calls 2023 a year of ‘setbacks’ for solar in India, after installing 13 GW in 2022. By the same virtue, he sees 2024 ‘extremely robust’, likely to be supported by rapidly declining solar component and project costs.
Some projects were pushed to H2/2023 by developers hoping for lower module prices.
India’s Q2/2023 solar installations of 1.7 GW declined over 10% sequentially and 58% annually thanks to 7% and 64% respective drop in large– scale solar capacity of 1.3 GW.
While large-scale solar projects accounted for 77% of total installed capacity in Q2/2023, rooftop solar represented 23%, which should be around 391 MW. In comparison, Mercom had anointed Q2/2022 as the best quarter for solar in India with almost 4 GW coming online (see India Installed 3.9 GW Solar Capacity In Q2/2022).
At the end of June 2023, the country had over 67 GW utility-scale solar project capacity in the pipeline, with an additional 62 GW tendered projects awaiting auction, according to the report.
Earlier, another India-based market intelligence firm JMK Research & Analytics claimed 6.79 GW of new solar capacity in India in CY H1/2023 (see Indian Solar Installations Dropped 19% In H1/2023).
