India renewables capacity to reach 170GW by Q1 2025

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
India is expected to increase its renewables capacity by 38GW in only 17 months. Credit: Solar Energy Corporation of India

India’s renewables capacity will increase to 170GW by March 2025 for a number of reasons, including the decline in solar PV cell and module prices, according to a study conducted by Indian rating agency ICRA.

As of October 2023, the installed renewables capacity in India was 132GW, meaning there will be an increase of 38GW in only 17 months.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

ICRA added that renewable additions will likely continue after March 2025 thanks to the significant improvement in tendering activity in the current fiscal year, with over 16GW projects bid out so far. Another 17GW bids will be from the tenders launched by the central nodal agencies. This is in line with the 50GW annual bidding trajectory announced by the government of India in March 2023.

ICRA vice president and sector head for corporate ratings Vikram V said the sharp decline in solar PV cell and module prices, due to the abeyance of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) order till March 2024, and the timeline extension approved for solar and hybrid projects, will lead to an improvement in renewables capacity additions to 20GW in FY2024 from 15GW in FY2023.

“This, along with the growing project pipeline, is likely to support the scale-up in capacity addition to 25GW in FY2025, mainly driven by the solar power segment,” he added.

PV Tech reported that India surpassed 70GW of installed solar capacity as of 30 June this year, according to the country’s government. However, India added 1.7GW of solar capacity only in the second quarter of 2023, down 58% year-on-year.

He added that the sharp decline in solar PV cell and module prices over the past 12 months led to a “healthy improvement in debt coverage metrics for the upcoming solar power projects”. For example, for a solar power project with a bid tariff of INR2.5 (US$0.03) per kWh and sourcing modules from domestic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) using imported PV cells, the average debt-service coverage ratio (DSCR) has improved by over 35 basis points.

“While this is a positive in the near term, the developers would remain exposed to movement in imported solar PV cell and wafer prices, till the development of fully integrated module manufacturing units in India,” he commented.

The study also highlighted some challenges on the execution front, including land acquisition and transmission connectivity.

Additionally, the increase in renewables capacity over the next six years is estimated to increase the share of renewables plus large hydro in the all-India electricity generation from 23% in FY2023 to around 40% in FY2030.

Read Next

October 8, 2024
The partnership aims to boost the sale of solar cell equipment in India amidst a growth in capacity announcements.
October 8, 2024
Once complete, the project is intended to produce 5GW of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells and 3GW of modules.
October 8, 2024
Indian state-owned energy company GAIL has partnered with green gases producer AM Green (AMG) to jointly explore establishing 2.5GW of hybrid solar PV and wind projects across India.
October 7, 2024
Alpex Solar's solar cell foray will be carried out in three phases with the first one adding 500MW annual nameplate capacity by October 2025.
October 3, 2024
By mid FY2026, Goldi Solar aims to increase PV module capacity from 3GW to 14GW, while it will build a 4GW solar cell plant by FY2027.
October 1, 2024
Tata Power to build a 2GW module plant in India, while Vikram Solar filed draft papers for its IPO and build a 3GW cell and module plant.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 8, 2024
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
Solar Media Events
October 15, 2024
Santiago, Chile
Solar Media Events
October 22, 2024
New York, USA