Indian Renewable Energy Industry Analysis

India was ranked fifth in wind power, fifth in solar power and fourth in renewable power installed capacity, as of 2019. India ranked third in EY Renewable Energy Country Attractive Index 2019. Installed renewable power generation capacity has increased at a fast pace over the past few years, posting a CAGR of 17.33% between FY14-FY20. Power generation from renewable energy sources in India reached 127.01 billion units (BU) in FY20. The renewable energy will account for 55% of the total installed power capacity by 2030.

As of January 31, 2021, installed renewable energy capacity stood at 92.55 GW, of which solar and wind comprised 38.79 GW and 38.68 GW, respectively. Biomass and small hydro power constituted 10.314GW and 4.76 GW, respectively.

According to the year-end review (2020) by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, another 49.59 GW of renewable energy capacity is under installation and an additional 27.41 GW of capacity has been tendered. This puts the total capacity of renewable energy projects (already commissioned or in the pipeline) at ~167 GW.

The Government of India wants to develop a ‘green city’ in every state of the country, powered by renewable energy. The ‘green city’ will mainstream environment-friendly power through solar rooftop systems on all its houses, solar parks on the city’s outskirts, waste to energy plants and electric mobility-enabled public transport systems.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, under the supervision of the Government of India, has outlined an action plan to achieve a total capacity of 60 GW from hydro power and 227 GW from other RES by March 2022; this includes 114 GW from solar power, 67 GW from wind power, 10 GW from biomass power and 5 GW from small hydro power. Government plans to establish renewable energy capacity of 523 GW (including 73 GW from Hydro) by 2030. This is proving to be the major thrust for the sector as the market players have enough incentive to move to clean source. The Government is aiming to achieve 225 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, much ahead of its target of 175 GW as per the Paris Agreement. In the Union Budget 2021-22, Ministry for New and Renewable Energy was allocated Rs. 5,753 crore (US$ 788.45 million). Under Union Budget 2021-22, the government has provided an additional capital infusion of Rs. 1,000 crore (US$ 137.04 million) to Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Rs. 1,500 crore (US$ 205.57 million) to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency.

As India looks to meet its energy demand on its own, which is expected to reach 15,820 TWH by 2040, renewable energy is set to play an important role. By 2030, renewable sources are expected to help meet 40% of India’s power needs.

India has been building a solar power plant in Rajasthan since 2019, which will be the world’s largest with a capacity of 2,255 MW. India plans to add 30 GW of renewable energy capacity along deserts on its western border of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Investment of around Rs. 36,729.49 crore (US$ 5.26 billion) was made by private companies to generate renewable energy during April-December 2019.

India’s renewable energy space has become very attractive from investors’ perspective as it received FDI inflow of US$ 9.83 billion between April 2000 and December 2020. According to the analytics firm British Business Energy, India ranked 3rd globally in terms of its renewable energy investments and plans in 2020.

As per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) estimates, by 2029-30, the share of renewable energy generation would increase from 18% to 44%, while that of thermal is expected to reduce from 78% to 52%.

In January 2021, the government approved eight hydropower projects of 144 MW over the Indus River and its tributaries in Ladakh.

In December 2020, SJVN Limited, a PSU under Ministry of Power entered an MoU with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA), a PSU under Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, to provide its services to SJVN for green energy projects.

In December 2020, the solar power tariff dropped to an all-time low of Rs. 1.99 per unit in an auction of projects of 500 MW capacity by the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. (GUVNL).