Domestic solar capacity installations rise 50 pc to over 3 GW in Jan-Mar: Mercom India

Over 3 gigawatt (GW) of solar energy capacity was installed in India in January-March 2022, Mercom India said on Wednesday.

The installation was 50 percent higher than the 2 GW added in the same period of 2021, the research firm said in a report.

''India added over 3 GW of solar capacity in Q1 (January-March) 2022, a 21 percent rise compared to 2.6 GW in Q4 2021. On a year-on-year basis, installations rose by 50 percent compared to the 2 GW added in Q1 2021,'' the report titled 'Q1 2022 India Solar Market Update by Mercom India Research' said.

During Q1 2022, 2.7 GW of large-scale solar was installed, registering a quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) increase of 23 percent and a 53 percent rise on a year-on-year basis.

Large-scale solar accounted for 85 percent of the installations, and rooftop accounted for the remaining 15 percent during the reporting period.

India's cumulative installed solar capacity now stands at 52 GW.

The country has a utility-scale projects development pipeline of over 54 GW. Another 33 GW of projects tendered are awaiting auction.

''...A little push from the government can help India surpass the 60 GW large-scale solar installation target set for 2022, which will be a great achievement,'' said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.

Rajasthan became the first state to cross 10 GW of cumulative large-scale solar PV installations, with over 10 GW installed as of March 2022, and accounts for 24 percent of the total installations in the country.

In Q1 2022, Rajasthan and Gujarat were the top states for solar, accounting for 52 percent and 18 percent of installations, respectively, followed by Karnataka (6 percent).

The report further said that tender activity for solar projects in Q1 2022 declined by about 18 percent q-o-q from nearly 6 GW in Q4 2021.

''With BCD (basic customs duty) applicable from April 1, 2022, on solar cells (25 percent) and modules (40 percent), the January-March quarter saw a significant increase in imports of the components,'' it said.

In Q1 2022, developers procured almost 10 GW of solar modules and stockpiled them ahead of the advent of BCD, which took effect on April 1, as they wanted to avoid paying the additional duty and claim the amount later due to the cumbersome regulatory process.

A subsidiary of US-based Mercom Capital Group, Mercom Communications India is a clean energy research and communications firm with expertise in cleantech markets.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)