According to a report by Ember, India’s states and union territories (UTs) have already surpassed their 2022 renewable energy (RE) capacity targets as India continues its target of 175 GW of renewable energy by December 2022.
However, 27 states are not yet halfway toward their targets and would need a big step up to meet the goal by the end of the year.
According to Ember’s research, India has installed 110 GW of renewable energy as of March 2022.
India witnessed 9.2 GW of renewable energy capacity addition in the past six months, with nearly three-quarters coming from projects in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
In March, three states and one UT have surpassed their end-of-year targets, including Telangana, Rajasthan, Karnataka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
As per the report, India has some ways to reach the 175 GW renewable energy target this year, despite gaining momentum in recent months. It will require 65 GW more in the next nine months to meet the goal by year-end, and all states must contribute.
Five key Indian states account for two-thirds of the remaining 65 GW, including Maharashtra with 11 GW, Uttar Pradesh with 10 GW, Andhra Pradesh with 9 GW, Madhya Pradesh with 7 GW and Tamil Nadu with 5 GW.
Only Tamil Nadu installed over 0.5 GW of renewable energy capacity in the last six months.
India is running behind on its solar and wind targets. To complete its target of 100 GW by the end of 2022, 8% growth is required in the next nine months. Wind power rose by only 3% in the last three quarters and needs about a 50% rise in the next three quarters to reach the 60 GW wind energy target.
Electricity demand is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 4-5% until 2030.
India targets of 450 GW renewable energy capacity and 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 can increase coal generation capacity. But it needs a five-fold growth in solar and four-fold growth in the wind in the next eight years.
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