GREEN POWER: INDIA TO SURPASS EU

India’s renewable energy expansion is set to overtake that of the European Union (EU) for the first time by 2022. The installed renewable energy generation capacity in the country would also double by then, says a report titled, Renewables 2017, released by the International Energy Agency. Solar photovoltaic (SPV) and wind together would represent 90% of India’s capacity growth in the coming years as auctions have yielded some of the world’s lowest prices for both the technologies, the report said. Boosted by a strong solar PV market, renewables accounted for almost two-thirds of the net new power capacity around the world last year, with almost 165 GW coming online. New SPV capacity grew by 50% globally last year, with China accounting for almost half of the expansion. For the first time, SPV additions rose faster than any other fuel, surpassing the net growth in coal. By 2022, global renewable electricity capacity should increase by 43%, the report said. By then, renewables will account for 30% of global power generation, up from 24% in 2016.

This year’s renewable forecast is 12% higher than last year, thanks mostly to solar PV upward revisions in India and China. India, China, and the United States will account for two-thirds of global renewable expansion by 2022, the report said. Globally, auction price of solar PV energy has fallen to three cents (1.97) per unit. In India, Rajasthan signed deals at 2.44 per unit in May 2017 to produce 500 MW solar power. The wind energy tariff fell to 2.64 per unit in an auction conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India in Gujarat.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com