Renewables Accounted for 92% Of Electricity Capacity Additions in India in 2022

India saw strong growth in renewable (RES) capacity installations in 2022, setting the stage for the country to assume climate leadership in the run-up to this year’s G20 summit. 

Solar and wind dominated India’s power generation capacity growth in 2022, accounting for 92% of total capacity additions, while coal accounted for only 5%, according to analysis from global energy think tank Ember.

While India’s coal capacity additions in 2022 dropped significantly in comparison to the previous year, solar and wind capacity additions increased. Combined, solar and wind added 15.7 GW of new generation capacity in 2022, 17% more than additions in 2021. Coal added less than 1 GW, showing a 78% decrease in additions in comparison to 2021.

Among India’s clean power sources, the largest additions have come from solar in recent years. 2022 was no exception: India added 13.9 GW of solar capacity in just one year, comparable to the UK’s entire solar capacity in 2021.

Rajasthan and Gujarat, the top two states for total solar deployment, together added 8.6 GW, slightly more than Turkey’s entire solar fleet as of 2021.  Installations in all the other states combined were still sizable at 5.3 GW, larger than Chile’s entire solar fleet.

Combining wind and solar together, Rajasthan added 6.7 GW of additional capacity. This addition accounts for 43% of India’s total solar and wind capacity deployments in 2021. This was the largest ever annual combined solar and wind capacity addition at the state level in India’s history.

Growth in solar and wind capacity is expected to be concentrated in Rajasthan and Gujarat, which both have ambitious targets for 2030. Rajasthan and Gujarat together account for one third of India’s total RES capacity target of 450 GW, most of which are solar and wind.

India, especially the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, have demonstrated to the world that rapid deployment of solar and wind is not only possible but also already happening. As the country presides over the G20 presidency this year, India is well-positioned to take climate leadership as a prime example on the possibilities of enabling clean power generation by unleashing solar and wind power.

#solar #wind #renewables