Team Blitz India
Shares of coal in total power capacity dropped below 50 per cent for the first time since 1966, while renewable energy accounted for 71.5 per cent of the record 13,669 megawatts (mw) power generation capacity added by India in the January-March period, according to a report.
According to the latest POWERup quarterly report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), this is well ahead of the Indian government’s target to establish 50 per cent cumulative power generation capacity from nonfossil fuel-based sources by 2030.
The decline mirrors a global trend, with demand for coal in G7 countries plumbing record lows in 2023, levels not seen since 1900, said IEEFA, JMK Research & Analytics and Ember, an energy think tank, in a joint press release.
Large-scale renewable energy projects in India have been the focus of intense interest, as evidenced by tender issuances crossing a record 69 gigawatts (gw), according to the report. The tenders issued for utility-scale renewable energy projects in FY24 far surpassed the government’s seemingly ambitious target of 50 gw, it said.
“After a slump from 2019 to 2022 due to supply-chain issues and global price spikes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the market has rebounded and gone from strength to strength,” said Vibhuti Garg, Director– South Asia, IEEFA. “There is strong investor interest in the Indian utility-scale renewable energy market. The primary reasons are the large-scale potential for market growth, central government support in terms of targets and regulatory frameworks, and higher operating margins,” added Garg.
