Renewable energy has established itself as the worldwide technology of choice for new power generation, and India is among the top five leading countries in the transition. It’s the 3rd largest solar market globally (following the US and China), the 4th largest market for wind, and the 5th largest for renewable energy overall. Furthermore, India’s lowest-cost-solar-power-producer status has made a shift towards a dominant renewable energy market virtually inevitable.
According to the IEA, the country will be the most significant contributor to the rise of renewables in 2021, including a record global expansion of solar, wind, and hydropower. India’s renewable capacity expansion programs are one of the most ambitious globally – with a target of achieving 175GW by 2022.
Policy support has been instrumental in pumping up capacity addition. Things like subsidies and incentives for faster adoption, clearance processes for land, and streamlining the regulatory and connectivity approvals have all contributed to the sector’s growth.
And while India has been doing a better job than most, renewable power is increasing worldwide. The COVID-19 crisis caused sharp declines in other sectors such as coal, oil, and gas but not renewables! For example, globally, shares of solar companies have more than doubled in value from December 2019 to October 2020. Solar has become the cheapest electricity in history.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said:
Renewable power is defying the difficulties caused by the pandemic, showing robust growth while others fuels struggle. The resilience and positive prospects of the sector are reflected by continued strong appetite from investors — and the future looks even brighter with new capacity additions on course to set fresh records this year and next.
Clearly, renewable energy is resilient, adaptable, and thus, the energy of the future. But the strong momentum behind renewables still needs policymakers to keep the ball in motion. Targets need to be fierce to ensure that clean energy becomes mainstream.
According to the IEA report, annual solar PV additions could reach a record level of 150 gigawatts (GW) by 2022 under favorable policy conditions. That’s an increase of nearly 40% in three years!
