India Solar Power Installations Growing 106% in 2024 – CleanTechnica

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India continues to be a solar and wind powerhouse, no pun intended. In fact, its solar power installations have absolutely soared this year. Compared to the first three quarters of 2023, newly installed solar power capacity in the first three quarters of 2024 was up 106%. New wind power capacity was up 15%.

In total, 17,444 megawatts (or 17.444 gigawatts) of solar power capacity was installed across the three quarters, while 2,627 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity were installed. In terms of the solar power capacity, India had never installed this much in the first 9 months of the year.

Total cumulative installations of renewable energy rose to 201.46 gigawatts (GW) at the end of September. Solar power accounts for 45% of that.

In terms of new solar power and wind power capacity across the first 9 months, the split was as follows:

• Utility-scale solar: 13.2 GW — 160.9% more than in January–September 2023.
  • “This surge can be attributed to the government’s initiative to issue bids for 50 GW of RE capacity annually over the next five years. This initiative has strengthened the market, providing stability for both public sector undertakings (PSUs) and private companies,” JMK Research writes. “In the first nine months of 2024, Rajasthan leads with 4.96 GW capacity, followed by Gujarat with 3.13 GW and Tamil Nadu with 1.57 GW.”
• Rooftop solar (on grid): 3.2 GW — 7.3% more than in January–September 2023.
  • “The increase can be attributed to the launch of the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. This initiative encourages the installation of rooftop solar in the C&I segment, as well as government buildings.”
• Off-grid solar: 1.035 GW — 2½ times more than in January–September 2023.
• Wind power: 2.6 GW — 14.8% more than in January–September 2023.
  • “Gujarat (985 MW), Karnataka (968 MW) and Tamil Nadu (613 MW) accounted for about 97% of the new wind capacity added during this period.”

Naturally, India is expected to achieve a new record for solar power capacity installed in a year, and is projected to surpass the 20 GW barrier in the process. Overall, the story is that one of the largest countries in the world has amped up its renewable energy deployment in 2024. Good news!