India's renewable power installations cross 50GW mark

Energy ministry eyes 175GW capacity by 2022.

The share of renewable power in India’s energy mix continues to increase with cumulative installations now exceeding 50 GW, according to Mercom Capital Group.

The solar sector is witnessing installations and project commissioning at a rapid pace, while the wind sector is implementing a competitive bidding process to develop wind power projects. Small hydro is expected to see installations increase, as the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has detailed project reports ready for implementation. The MNRE plans to add 175 GW renewables capacity by 2022.

Here's more from Mercom Capital Group:

The coal-based generation capacity in India is 60.1 percent of the total installed capacity of 314,106.30 MW as of December 31, 2016, according to the Ministry of Power. The total thermal power generation stands at 68.5 percent with a capacity of 215,168.90 MW. After the release of the draft electricity plan 2017-2022, coal-based generation is expected to decline.

Renewable energy sources make up 16 percent of the total energy generation with about 50,000 MW. Hydro makes up 13.7 percent, with 43,139.43 MW of the total power generated in the country.

Nuclear power has a total capacity of 5,780 MW and provides 1.84 percent of the energy generation. The capacity hasn’t changed but the percentage share has fallen as installation and generation in others sectors have increased.

With more than 9 GW of solar energy installed to date, solar represented 2.9 percent of the net installed capacity in India. Solar accounts for almost 18 percent of all renewable energy generation. Mercom is forecasting installations to reach over 9 GW in calendar year 2017 which would put the Indian solar sector in the big league along with China, the United States, and Japan.