India is making big strides toward a cleaner, greener future with its record-breaking growth in renewable energy.
In March 2024, the country saw an amazing surge, installing a whopping 7.1 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy, more than double the previous record set in 2022.
This push has taken India to its highest-ever yearly installed capacity of 18.5 GW by the end of the fiscal year in March 2024. It’s a huge achievement and shows India’s strong commitment to embracing cleaner ways of generating power.
A big part of this growth comes from solar energy, which saw a massive 23% increase compared to the previous year. The rise in solar power was driven by setting up lots of new projects across the country, especially in big solar parks and transmission networks.
States like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra played a big role in this green energy expansion. For example, Adani Green, part of the Adani Group, installed around 1.6 GW of solar power in Gujarat’s Kutch district in the first part of 2024.
This is just one step towards a bigger goal: creating hybrid renewable energy parks that could generate up to 30 GW of both solar and wind power in the coming years, bringing more sustainable energy to India.
But despite these successes, India still has challenges to overcome to reach its renewable energy goals. The government aims to achieve 500 GW of clean energy capacity by 2031-32, in line with Prime Minister Modi’s vision for a cleaner, self-sufficient India aiming for net-zero emissions by 2070.
To hit this target, India needs to add about 30 GW of clean energy capacity every year, including solar, hydropower, wind, and nuclear energy.
It’s a big task that will need careful planning and hard work.
The boom in solar power has also led to a surge in demand for solar equipment. India is now trying to make more of these solar panels at home to meet the demand. And they’re even looking to export them, with the United States being a major buyer. But Indian manufacturers face tough competition from Southeast Asia, who can make things cheaper by getting materials from China.
Looking ahead, India’s focus until 2032 will likely be on hitting its own targets, without much immediate impact on the global energy scene. Trading renewable energy with other countries might not happen until the 2030s because it’s expensive to set up the needed connections between countries.
Rohit Pradeep Patel, from Rystad Energy, says it’s crucial to keep up the momentum. Achieving big climate goals means balancing things like keeping the power grid stable and managing the costs of adding more renewable energy.