3GW of India's solar and wind installations face delays

The country’s solar industry relies heavily on Chinese PV module imports.

Over 21.6% or 3GW of solar and wind installations in India could be delayed as a result of the country’s lockdown, according to a report by Wood Mackenzie.

Solar installations are set to be hit hard by the lockdown as the industry is heavily dependent on Chinese photovoltaic (PV) module imports, which account for 80% of the total volume.

According to Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Rishab Shrestha, solar installations are projected to crash 60% YoY in Q1, or 1.2GW out of 3GW during the quarter.

The report is bearish about PV installations in the second half of the year, as supply and logistics bottlenecks linger. Shrestha projects solar installations to fall 24.8% to 8.9 GW in 2020.

Meanwhile, principal analyst Robert Liew explained that wind project installations tend to rise in Q1. If the lockdown were to be extended past April, wind farm construction could be further delayed into the monsoon season, where wind installations are typically at their lowest.

With over 3GW of wind projects under construction scheduled for 2020 completion, supply and labour disruptions from the lockdown could delay 400MW into 2021, causing installations to fall 11% for 2020.

Further, states with the highest infection rates happen to be areas that are favourable to wind and solar development. For instance, Gujarat delivered 58% or 1.4GW of new added wind capacity in the country in 2019, but stands as one of the worst hit states in terms of coronavirus infections.

In terms of solar installations, Karnataka (2GW), Tamil Nadu (1.6GW) and Rajasthan (1.7GW) accounted for 55% of the country’s total in 2019, whilst also being amongst the worst hit states.