Indian Solar Power Share Up In H1/FY2016-17

• Indian solar power generation from April 2016 to September 2016 was 5,791.54 million kWh
• While the solar share among power generation from renewables in FY2013 was only 6.3%, it grew to 7.4% the following fiscal year and to 11.3% in FY2015-16.
• In the first half of the current fiscal year solar power output has already reached a 12.2% share among renewables
• Total solar power capacity addition in the current fiscal year from April to October 2016 was 1,965 MW

India generated 5,791.54 million kWh of solar power between April and September 2016, providing 12.2% of the total renewable energy generation that 5-months period. This compares to a 11.3% share in the same period last year.

Piyush Goyal, Head of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), shared the data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in a written reply to a question in the House of the People (lower house) in the Indian Parliament. India added 1,965 MW of new grid connected solar power installation capacity from April to October 31, 2016. This is equivalent to 65% of capacity added during last year (2015-16: 3,018.88 MW).

The Asian subcontinent has added 5.8 GW of solar power in the 2.5 years (see India Adds 14.3 GW Renewables) and is hoping to commission 11,068 MW of new solar power capacity by March 2017.

But industry experts believe that the administration needs to address concerns regarding transmission, ensure clean energy power developers get their PPAs signed on time and they receive payments for selling power to the utilities without delays. Mercom Capital recently reported that solar power developers in the state of Jharkhand are waiting for their PPAs to be signed for a total capacity of 1.1 GW. In particular smaller developers complain that their prepayments that enabled them to participate in the bids is frozen in these projects, but that's money they would need to participate in other tenders.

Goyal informed that the responsibility for infrastructure for distribution and transmission is with state and Central Transmission Utilities. The Government has taken up the project for developing  'Green Energy Corridors' in 8 States dedicated for Renewable Energy including Solar energy, he said.