Renewable capacity in India set to jump by 50% in 2019

India is set to add renewable energy capacity of 15,860 MW in 2019, a leap of 50% on the 10,560 MW installed last year. Around 70% – 10,902 MW – of the new capacity will come from utility-scale solar projects, according to Bridge To India analysts.

January 10, 2019 Uma Gupta

With utility-scale solar installations set to soar, rooftop capacity additions are also set to rise 49% on last year’s figures.

Image: Biswarup Ganguly/Wikimedia Commons

India will register an all-time high rate of new utility-scale solar energy capacity in 2019 – almost 11 GW – according to consultancy Bridge to India’s analysis of tender timetables.

The analysts predict only 2,635 MW will be added in the first half but a further 8,267 MW will come online from July onwards.

Though most of the gain will come from utility scale solar, rooftop PV is also expected to register another year of fantastic growth, with 2,368 MW of new capacity expected – a rate 49% higher than that seen in 2018. That segment of the market will continue to be dominated by commercial and industrial consumers.

In addition, around 290 MW of off-grid capacity will be added, mostly from solar pumps, according to Bridge to India’s India RE Outlook 2019 report.

More than 75% of the new utility scale capacity is expected to come online in the states of Rajasthan – which will see more than 2 GW – Andhra Pradesh (1,950 MW), Tamil Nadu (1,872 MW) and Karnataka (1,555 MW).

Floating solar

Some 83 MW of floating solar is expected to be added, with 33 MW tendered by NTPC in Kerala and 50 MW by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in Uttar Pradesh.

India’s first utility scale storage project is likely to be commissioned in Leh, Jammu & Kashmir during the year, where SECI will develop a 3 MW scheme.

New open access solar capacity may fall significantly, however, from 1,630 MW last year to just 600-650 MW. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana will lead that segment of the market.

In all, 32 developers are expected to commission utility scale PV projects in 2019, led by Azure, Acme and NLC. Ayana Renewable, Raasi Green Earth, Asian Fab Tec, Think Energy Partners and Technique Solar are set to commission their first projects in India in 2019.

The safeguarding duty applied to PV cell and module imports will fall to 20% in July.

Bridge to India expects no significant uplift in Indian PV manufacturing, with total module manufacturing capacity expected to total around 3 GW.

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