Domestic solar capacity addition grows 27 pc in 2022: Mercom report

Solar capacity installations in India increased by 27 per cent to 13 gigawatts (GW) during the calendar year 2022, according to a Mercom India report.

“Solar capacity made up 82 per cent of the total 16 GW new power generation capacities added in 2022,” the report titled ‘Mercom India Solar Market Update’ said. India added 13 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in the calendar year (CY) 2022, a 27 per cent increase year-on-year (y-o-y) compared to 10.2 GW installed in CY 2021, it added. The country’s cumulative installed solar capacity now stands at 63 GW, the report said.

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During 2022, large-scale solar projects accounted for 87 per cent of the installations. However, in October-December 2022, India added 2.6 GW of solar, down 5 per cent from 2.8 GW a year ago, it said. India’s large-scale solar project pipeline stood at 58 GW, with another 51 GW of projects tendered and pending auction at the end of 2022. “Though impressive, record solar capacity additions in 2022 were barely half the 27 GW in annual installations needed to meet the 280 GW target by 2030. Policies must be quickly retooled and hurdles removed to double the annual pace of installations and attract the needed investments,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.

The average cost of projects throughout CY2022 was affected due to higher module prices and supply constraints. Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat were the top three states for cumulative large-scale solar capacity, accounting for 54 per cent of installations in the country as of December 2022. The report further said that “if the government lifts the requirement of (approved list of modules and manufacturers) ALMM-approved modules for domestic solar project development for two years, a significant project capacity will benefit from the expected increase in module availability in 2023 and 2024”.