Highest-Ever Generation Puts Renewable Share At 9.4% In India For Q3 2017

November 24th, 2017 by Smiti

Renewable energy generation in India set several records during the quarter ending September 2017. The high generation was largely driven by record wind energy generation which benefited from the huge capacity addition witnessed in Q1 2017.

According to government data, India witnessed the generation of 31.3 terawatt-hours of renewable energy between July and September 2017. This beat the previous high of 27.5 terawatt-hours set in the same quarter last year. Quarter-on-quarter, the increase in generation was 23.2%, while year-on-year the generation increased 13.8%.

The total power generated and imported in India was 334.6 terawatt-hours, putting the share of renewable energy generation at 9.4%, again the highest-ever. As expected, the share of wind energy within the renewable energy generation was the highest with a 68% share, while solar was a distant second with a share of 17%, which is also expected during monsoon season.

The dominance of these two renewable energy technologies is evident from the fact that the share of other renewable energy technologies fell to its lowest level (since data is available) of just 15.1%; during Q4 2015 and Q1 2016 the share of other renewable energy technologies in total renewable energy generation was the highest at over 53%.

The share of other renewable energy technologies is expected to fall further as the Indian government continues to focus on wind energy and solar power. Of the 175 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity targeted by March 2022, 100 gigawatts is planned from solar power while 60 gigawatts is planned from wind energy, and the balance of 15 gigawatts is distributed between small hydro, bioenergy and waste-to-energy technologies.

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Tags: India, india renewable energy, India Solar Power, india wind energy

About the Author

Smiti works as a senior solar engineer at a reputed engineering and management consultancy. She has conducted due diligence of several solar PV projects in India and Southeast Asia. She has keen interest in renewable energy, green buildings, environmental sustainability, and biofuels. She currently resides in New Delhi, India.