- India added 5,525.98 MW new solar power capacity of in 2016-17
- This is a record new capacity addition in any single year for the Indian solar
- At the end of February 2017, the country reported capacity addition of 2,803.77 MW, which means, in March itself more than 2,700 MW was grid-connected
- Andhra Pradesh now leads the pack as the state with the highest cumulative capacity installed
- Rajasthan is now second in terms of cumulative solar power capacity of more than 1,812 MW
Solar power capacity of India increased by 5,525.98 MW in 2016-17. It has broken its own record capacity addition of 3,019 MW in 2015-16, as per a report in The Economic Times, a daily business paper from India.
At the end of February 2017, the country reported capacity addition of 2,803.77 MW. This means, in March itself more than 2,700 MW was grid-connected.
Indeed, there was significant activity in March in the solar sector of the country with several companies bringing various capacities online. The biggest of project was finalized by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) bringing 260 MW online at Bhadla Solar Park (see 260 MW PV From NTPC Online At Bhadla). Azure Power commissioned 130 MW in Karnataka at the end of March 2017 (see Azure Commissions 130 MW In Karnataka).
A year back, Indian credit rating agency ICRA Limited had predicted that India will add 5.7 GW by 2017 (see ICRA Estimates 5.7 GW PV By 2017 In India).
While this is the record new capacity addition in any single year for India, India has once fallen short of achieving its targeted 12 GW capacity addition in 2016-17. With these figures, the cumulative capacity of India is now 12,288.83 MW, ET reported.
In March 2017, India crossed the 10 GW milestone (see PV In India Exceeds 10 GW).
India’s state with highest cumulative capacity of solar power is now Andhra Pradesh with close to 1,900 MW, ahead of Rajasthan and Telangana.
The state of Andhra Pradesh added the maximum capacity at 1,294.26 MW, followed by Karnataka with 882.38 MW added in the year. Other major states that added significant capacity in FY 2016-17 were: Telangana with 759.13 MW, Rajasthan with 543 MW, Tamil Nadu with 630.01 MW, Punjab with 388 MW, Uttar Pradesh with 193.24 MW and Uttarakhand with 192.35 MW.
The top four states with cumulative solar power capacity now are: Andhra Pradesh with 1,867.23 MW, Rajasthan with 1,812.93 MW, Telangana with 1,286.98 MW and Gujarat with 1,249.37 MW.
