India’s solar power generation capacity has touched the 125 giga watts (GW) mark, making it the third-largest solar energy producer, Union minister for new and renewable energy Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday.
“As per COP28 outcome, the world’s renewable energy (RE) capacity will triple to 11,000 GW by 2030. And solar power is the single greatest key to achieving both of these ambitions,” Joshi said addressing the curtain raiser of the 8th session of the International Solar Alliance Assembly.
The minister added that the country is targeting 1,800 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2047. Currently, India’s RE capacity stands at around 252 GW.
India’s ambitious renewable energy targets
The country has a target of achieving 500 GW RE capacity by 2030, of which 300 GW is likely to come from solar energy, as per government’s estimates. “We have 162 GW in the pipeline. I am confident that we will achieve that goal,” the minister said.
Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary, New and Renewable Energy Ministry said that a discussion is ongoing among stakeholders on whether India can increase its installed capacity from non-fossil sources.
The secretary also noted that the US tariff negotiations do not impact India’s solar module exports.
“Our solar module exports are not very huge. Our domestic consumption of modules has been very high because of utility-scale solar projects that we have been doing. For schemes like PM Kusum, PM Surya Ghar our domestic demand has been very high,” Sarangi said.
Boosting domestic manufacturing
The country has 100 GW of domestic solar module manufacturing capacity at present and 27 GW of cell manufacturing capacity.
The country is the third largest in solar power, third largest in wind power, and overall has the third largest installed RE capacity in the world, Sarangi said.
India also plans to partner with other member countries of the ISA and deploy initiatives similar to PM Suryaghar Muft Bijlee Yojna and PM Kusum to help build solar capacity.
“We are willing to partner with other countries for initiatives like this (PM Suryaghar and PM Kusum. In course of time solar is going to grow big,” Sarangi said.
The International Solar Alliance is a collaborative initiative between India and France aimed at uniting efforts to combat climate change by implementing solar energy solutions and today comprises 124 member countries. ISA aims to unlock $1 trillion in solar investments by 2030 while reducing technology and financing costs.