In the second quarter of 2020, India added just 351 MW of new solar power generation capacity, taking total installed capacity to 38,377 MW by the end of June. Of the new additions, 60% (211 MW) came from utility-scale solar and 40% (140 MW) from rooftop solar, according to Bridge to India’s latest report, India Solar Compass Q2 2020.
India’s total commissioned utility-scale stood at 32,497 MW and rooftop solar at 5,880 MW.
The report said that module prices fell sharply to US cents 16.5/W for multi-crystalline modules and US cents 17.5/W for mono-PERC modules during the quarter. However, engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) cost for rooftop solar installations remained unchanged at INR 32.5/Wp as the reduction in module prices was offset by a rise in balance-of-system (BoS) prices.
“Capacity addition [in the second quarter] was significantly below our estimate of 500 MW due to extended lockdown and the consequent effect on the movement of people and goods. Construction activity picked up towards the end of the quarter, but labour shortage and restrictive work practices continued to affect progress,” said BTI analysts about the poor capacity addition in the second quarter.
Outlook
BTI analysts expect project construction to rebound the coming quarters with a strong pipeline of 42,229 MW as of June 30. A total of 4,720 MW is expected to be commissioned in the second half, bringing total commissioned capacity for 2020 to 5,620 MW—the lowest capacity addition over the last three years.
Rooftop solar capacity addition over the third and fourth quarters is estimated at 600 MW (23% decrease year-on-year).
Lower equipment prices and lifting of lockdown related restrictions should help developers bounce back with higher capacity addition in 2021.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
2 comments
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.