India will triple the number of wind and solar power auctions in a bid to reach a capacity target for 2030, which stands at 500 GW in low-carbon generation capacity, including hydro and nuclear.
According to a Bloomberg report, this means that India needs to close deals for the construction of some 50 GW in new wind and solar capacity in the year until March 2024. For context, BloombergNEF says India auctioned 15 GW in wind and solar capacity annually in the last five years.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that India was planning to issue auctions for 250 GW in new wind and solar generation capacity for the period to March 2028. The plan was made with a view to cutting emissions by 45% from 2005 levels.
Targets are one thing, however, and delivering on them is quite another, India demonstrated recently. It planned to have 175 GW in low-carbon generation capacity installed by 2022, but the target proved impossible to hit.
At the same time, India is not giving up on fossil fuel generation. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the country's electricity output had grown at the fastest rate in more than 30 years in fiscal 2022/23, with output from both renewables and coal plants hitting a record, accompanied by a jump in emissions.
To boost the share of renewable energy sources in its energy mix, India will this fiscal year issue tenders for 15 GW of low-carbon energy in the first two quarters of the new fiscal year, and for 10 GW of low-carbon capacity in the last two quarters of the year to March 2024.
India's total electricity generation capacity stands at 412.2 GW, more than half of which is coal capacity. The share of coal in power generation, however, is higher, at almost 73%.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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