The renewable energy sector reported a 19 per cent decline in new capacity addition to the grid in the calendar year 2023.
The total new capacity addition in the clean energy sector stood at 12.9 GW in 2023 when compared with a new capacity addition of about 16 GW, the highest-ever annual capacity added to the grid, in 2022.
During January-December 2023, the solar segment added about 10 GW of new capacity against 14 GW of addition in 2022. The utility-scale solar segment’s new capacity addition was significantly lower at 6.5 GW compared to 11.3 GW in 2022.
“The reason behind this decline in utility-scale solar installations is due to below-par tender issuance activity during the period from 2020 to 2022. According to the recent upsurge in tender activity, it is anticipated that utility-scale solar installations will increase in the future,” according to JMK Research and Analytics.
The rooftop solar market added about 3 GW in 2023, which is significantly higher than 2022 installations of 1.9 GW. In the off-grid/ distributed solar segment, nearly 500 MW was added, about 31 per cent less than 2022 installations.
In 2023, which witnessed changes in the regulatory regime to support the industry, the wind power sector reported an increase in new capacity addition at 2.8 GW compared with 1.85 GW in 2022.
This growth in wind installations can partly be attributed to the successful resolution of the long pending SECI wind tenders in Gujarat (especially tranche V-Vlll). Furthermore, the increasing popularity of hybrid tenders has also contributed to this rise in wind installations, it said.
Gujarat topped in overall capacity addition at about 3.5 GW in 2023, Rajasthan added the highest capacity in the solar segment at 2.2 GW, followed by Gujarat (1.3 GW) and Maharashtra (979 MW).
As of December 31, 2023, the cumulative grid-connected capacity of renewable power stood at 134 GW. Of the total capacity, the solar power segment accounted for 73 GW (including 57 GW of ground-mounted capacity, 11 GW of rooftop capacity, 2.57 GW hybrid projects, and 2.75 GW of off-grid), followed by wind power at about 45 GW, and biopower at about 11 GW. The small hydro segment accounted for about 5 GW.
Among the states, Rajasthan remained the Number One state in total renewable capacity with an installed capacity of 24 GW, followed by Gujarat (22 GW), Tamil Nadu (19 GW), Karnataka (18 GW) and Maharashtra (13 GW).