India will see its wind and solar deployment jump by 30% this year but that will still not be fast enough to hit its ambitious target of 500GW renewables by 2030, says BloombergNEF.
India’s capacity will rise by a record 16.7GW in 2024, predicts BNEF, due to ever-cheaper prices for solar panels and increased demand for green energy sources by industry.
This will be an increase on the nearly 13GW rise in capacity last year.
However, in a note published on Thursday, BNEF, whose analysis is among the most closely watched in the clean energy sector, said that recent renewables uptake has been hampered by policy uncertainty, restrictions on solar import and grid constraints.
India had 188GW capacity by the end of last year. With a target of 500GW by 2030, the country needs to add a whopping 44GW of capacity every year for the rest of the decade to hit it.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi set that target in 2021 at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
India is also still opening more coal plants, with a 7% increase in electricity demand last year prompting the country to scramble to bring more online to avoid power outages.
One way India could look to boost its renewables rollout is through its offshore wind. The country has recently taken steps to kick-start its faltering ambitions in that sector by tendering 4GW of seabed for projects.
India’s Adani Group has meanwhile recently flicked the on switch at what is planned to be the world’s largest green energy park, at 30GW. The 551MW solar farm activated as part of that project came online last month.
