Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh built just 3 per cent, 1 per cent, 1 per cent and 1 per cent of India’s renewables that were installed in the first eight months of this year.New Delhi: It is unlikely India will reach its December 2022 target of 175 GWrenewableenergy generation capacity but its 2030 targets of 450 GW renewables and 500 GW non-fossil capacity are well within reach, according to a new report.
India has an installed renewable energy capacity of 116 GW and is 58 GW away from meeting its 175 GW target. Interestingly, around 61 per cent of this shortfall is in four big states – Maharashtra (shortfall of 11.1 GW), Uttar Pradesh (9.7 GW), Andhra Pradesh (9.2 GW), and Madhya Pradesh (6.5 GW).
The key states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh built just 3 per cent, 1 per cent, 1 per cent and 1 per cent of India’s renewables that were installed in the first eight months of this year, according to the report, published today by EMBER, a UK-based think tank.
“If Maharashtra continued building at the average rate from January to August this year, it would take the state 20 years until they meet their December 2022 target. For Uttar Pradesh, it would take 80 years; Andhra Pradesh would take 44 years and Madhya Pradesh would take 55 years,” it said.
India has so far achieved 66 per cent (116 GW) of the 2022 target of 175 GW renewable energy capacity. The country installed 11.1 GW of RE capacity between January and August 2022, a 17 per cent jump over 9.5 GW installed in the same period last year. Solar capacity rose 22 per cent.
“To meet the current national RE target of 450 GW by 2030, 334 GW needs to be built in the next 91 months, which would need an addition of 3.7 GW per month. That is 2.5 times the average installation rate of 1.4 GW from January to August 2022,” the report said.
In another significant insight, Gujarat has become the latest state to meet its 2022 RE target. It surpassed its target in May 2022 – joining Telangana, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Also, it is one of the few states which are still building wind, installing 63 per cent of India’s new wind capacity this year.
The report also says only 1.1 GW of wind energy capacity was installed between January to August 2022, up 7 per cent year-on-year. Wind’s share of all new renewable capacity fell to just 10 per cent this year from 12 per cent in the same period last year.
