India’s Solar Energy Capacity Grows, Accounting for 38% of Renewables in Q1 2023

India has seen a rise in renewable energy capacity over the years, which has contributed significantly to the country’s overall power capacity mix. Data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), and Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker reveals that in the first quarter of 2023, renewable energy sources, which include large hydro projects, accounted for 41% of India’s installed power capacity mix. On the other hand, conventional sources made up the remaining 59%.

• India’s installed renewable energy capacity, including large hydro projects, was 170.32 GW at the end of the first quarter of 2023, accounting for 41% of the overall power capacity mix.
• Solar power accounted for 16% of the total installed power capacity and 38% of the total installed renewable capacity in Q1 2023, up from 13.2% and 34% year-on-year (YoY), respectively.
• Wind installations made up 10% of India’s overall installed power capacity in the same period.
• Large hydro projects accounted for nearly 11% of the total installed power capacity, while biomass and small hydro represented 2.6% and 1.2%, respectively.

The graph above shows India’s power capacity mix as of March 2023, with conventional power sources making up 59% of the total installed energy capacity, and renewable sources, including large hydro, accounting for the remaining 41%.

• As of March 2023, conventional sources of power accounted for 59% of all installed energy capacity in India, a slight decrease from the 203.77 GW in previous quarter, where it made up 59.3% of all installations.
• Coal remained the top power source, with 205.23 GW of thermal installations by the end of March 2023, a slight increase from the previous quarter.
• Other conventional sources included gas, nuclear, lignite, and diesel as the main components.

The graph above illustrates the contribution of different renewable energy sources to India’s installed capacity as of March 2023. Solar power represents the highest share at 16%, followed by wind energy at 10%, large hydro at almost 11%, and biomass at 2.6%.

While coal remained the top power source, the Ministry of Power proposed last November that any coal-based thermal generation station coming up after April 1, 2024, must either install or procure renewable energy equivalent to 25% of the thermal generation capacity. The power ministry also set the trajectory for replacing thermal power with renewables by the financial year 2025-26 to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030.

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