India’s utility solar capacity grows 72% in FY18: Report

BENGALURU: India’s utility solar capacity grew by 72% in 2017-18 over the previous year, said solar consultancy Bridge To India in its annual report on the sector. It installed 9.1GW of utility solar against 5.5GW in 2016-17. Total solar installation was 10.4GW, the rest comprising rooftop solar plants and off-grid solutions, taking the country’s cumulative solar capacity to 24.4GW.

Solar capacity addition in 2017-18 was higher than that of all other energy sources, both conventional and renewable combined, the report noted. In comparison, coal and wind energy only added 4.6GW and 1.7GW, respectively.

Among the states, Karnataka added the most capacity at 4.1GW, which was 46% of total capacity installed in 2017-18.

This makes Karnataka having the largest commissioned solar capacity in the country at 5.2GW. The report noted that the open access market in the state grew substantially because of favourable exemptions under its solar policy, but that these are being phased out from this year.

The second-highest cumulative capacity was in Telangana (3.28GW), followed by Rajasthan (2.3GW), Andhra Pradesh (2.28GW) and Tamil Nadu (1.86GW).