Solar Drives New Power in India
Solar was the leading source of new power capacity additions in the calendar year 2017 with installed capacity of approximately 9.5 GW accounting for 45 percent of total power capacity additions according to data compiled by Mercom India Research. Wind was the second most installed power source with 19.6 percent followed by coal at 18.9 percent. Solar and wind together made up for almost 65 percent of new capacity added.
According to Mercom's India Solar Project Tracker, solar now accounts for approximately 19.5 GW (preliminary figures) of total installed capacity and 5.79 percent of total installed capacity. The pace of solar capacity additions were remarkable in the past year with many new projects being commissioned.Wind currently accounts for 33 GW of total installed capacity and 9.8 percent of overall power generation. After the success of a second wind auction of 1,000 MW, SECI recently brought out another 2,000 MW wind tender and increased the pipeline of new wind projects planned for 2018.
According to Mercom India Research, the share of renewable energy in the country's installation mix rose exponentially in 2017. On December 31, 2016, renewables accounted for 52 GW of capacity and accounted for 16.2 percent of the country's capacity mix. As of December 31, 2017, renewables accounted for 65 GW and a 19.4 percent share, an increase of about 28 percent.
Solar is witnessing the fastest growth in its percentage share of total renewable capacity. Solar jumped from a 19.5 percent share in the renewable energy mix on December 31, 2016, to a 29.8 percent share on December 31, 2017.