India reports “accelerating growth” with 66% of solar and wind adoption target

Solar energy has the most improvement with a 36% increase in solar capacity additions.

India is set to gain a 66% share of generation growth, gauged by solar and wind adoption, for fiscal year (FY) 2022-32, according to think tank Ember.

Currently, India plans to increase solar’s share in its power mix from 5% in FY 2022 to 17% by FY 2027, and to 25% by FY 2032. 

To do this, the South Asian market needs to raise its current annual solar capacity addition by about 36% each year leading up to 2026-27. This is on top of the record 12.9 GW of solar capacity addition that India commissioned in FY 2023, increasing the total national capacity to 66.7 GW.

As per the transition, issues such as grid integration, balancing of demand, cost-effective measures and storage options need to be addressed to avoid power shortages and slowdown of generation.

ALSO READ: India to pilot 100 MW green hydrogen storage

With the growth of electricity demand varying on peak hours, a definitive strategy for storage capacity on both solar and non-solar hours will be integral to India’s future energy generation and transition to renewables.

Meanwhile, 15% of renewable generation will be reallocated to non-solar hours per storage if the country's electricity plan is met. 

The accelerated growth marks a major change for India’s electricity generation from FY 2022-2032, transitioning from coal-dominated energy towards renewables and achieving the country’s 14th National Electricity Plan (NEP14), with a target of 186 GW by the year 2027.