Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

India to increase renewable power output capacity by 16GW in FY23

The Indian government plans to establish a renewable energy capacity of 523 GW (including 73 GW from Hydro) by 2030.
January 12, 2022
renewable Energy

Rating agency ICRA estimates India will add renewable energy generating capacity of 12.5 gigawatts (GW) in the year ended March 2022 and another 16GW in the year thereafter amid ongoing project pipelines of up to 55GW.

In a statement, ICRA noted that the outlook for capacity addition “remains strong” due to a large project pipeline and “highly competitive tariffs offered by these projects”. Compared to 12.5 GW expected in FY22 and 7.4 GW in FY21, it expects a 16 GW capacity addition in FY23.

Girishkumar Kadam, Senior Vice President & Co-Group Head – Corporate ratings at ICRA added that the capacity additions will also be boosted by the increased number of power purchase agreements finalised in the past six months by the Solar Energy Corporation of India. Within the renewable energy capacity, the additions will be driven by the solar segment followed by the wind and hybrid segments.

“(There) remains large with under-development solar, wind and hybrid capacities of more than 55 GW. Basis this, ICRA expects the RE capacity addition to increasing from 7.4 GW reported in FY2021 to 12.5 GW in FY2022 and further to 16 GW in FY2023,” Kadam said.

Vikram V, Vice President & Sector Head – Corporate Ratings at ICRA opined that the availability of adequate funding avenues at cost-competitive rates remains critical to achieving these capacity targets.

Meanwhile, a Bridge to India report estimates India country will add 10 GW of renewable capacity within this year itself (2022). This is down 10 percent year-on-year (YoY), The Economic Times reported.

ICRA said the outlook for the capacity addition in the renewable energy sector also remains strong because of the competitive tariffs offered by these projects.

“The commitment to climate change goals announced by the Prime Minister at the recent COP26 summit, including increasing the non-fossil power capacity to 500 GW and meeting 50% of energy requirement from renewable sources by 2030, further strengthen the investment prospects in the renewable energy sector,” the ICRA statement said.

In the first eight months of the current financial year ended November 2021, India added 8.2GW of renewable energy generation capacity, compared to 3.4GW added in eight months of FY2021.