Solar and wind dominate India’s electricity capacity additions in 2022

  • New Delhi

  • 17 March 2023

India added 13.9 GW of solar capacity in just one year, equivalent to the UK’s entire solar capacity by the end of 2021

New analysis from global energy think tank Ember reveals that solar and wind drove the majority (92%) of India’s electricity capacity additions in 2022. This strong growth sets the stage for the country to assume climate leadership in the run up to the G20 summit this year. Coal accounted for only 5%.

India’s solar and wind additions increased the country’s renewable generation capacity by 15.7 GW, 17% above additions in 2021. The additional capacity is comparable to the size of the UK’s entire solar capacity as of 2021. Coal  capacity additions amounted to less than 1 GW, 78% less than the addition in 2021. 

The analysis from Ember tracks monthly progress of Indian states and union territories against 2022 renewable energy targets, using data from India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The analysis finds that Rajasthan and Gujarat emerge as the top two states with the most renewable electricity capacity additions in 2022, led especially by solar. The two states added 8.6 GW of solar, which is greater than Türkiye’s entire solar fleet as of 2021. 

The state of Rajasthan installed an additional 6.7 GW of solar and wind capacity in 2022. This addition accounts for 43% of India’s total solar and wind capacity deployments last year. This was the largest ever annual combined solar and wind capacity addition at the state level in India’s history.

Gujarat installed 3.1 GW of solar and wind in 2022, about half of Rajasthan’s installations. The analysis also reveals that Gujarat now has 18.5 GW of clean electricity capacity, surpassing its planned target for the year.

Ember’s analysis projects that the growth in renewable generation capacity will continue to be concentrated in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Rajasthan and Gujarat aim to reach 90 GW and 61 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 respectively. To reach these targets, Rajasthan will have to deploy about 8.6 GW and Gujarat 5.4 GW of renewable capacity annually for the next eight years. 

If these 2030 targets are realised, renewable capacity in the two states will account for one third of  India’s total renewable capacity target of 450 GW by 2030, most of which is solar and wind.

India, especially the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, have demonstrated to the world that rapid deployment of solar and wind is not only possible, but also already happening. As the country presides over the G20 presidency this year, India is well-positioned to take climate leadership as a prime example on the possibilities of enabling clean power generation by unleashing solar and wind power.

Uni Lee Asia data analyst, Ember

Notes to editors

Media Pack – press release, report, graphics, data table:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1TuKzMuU_ivvzaEyFog42ktRJ5Iakcia7

The report will be published online on 17 March 2023 at:

https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/india-data-story-2023/

India state-by-state electricity data explorer can be accessed at:

https://ember-climate.org/data/data-tools/india-electricity-data-explorer/ 

About this report

This report is based on findings from Ember’s India state RES target and progress data tool that was launched early last year. The tool tracks the monthly progress of Indian states and union territories on their 2022 renewable energy targets using state-wise installed renewable energy capacity data from India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. More detail on data sources and methodology is available in the full report.

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About Ember

Ember is an independent energy think tank that aims to accelerate the clean energy transition with data and policy. It creates targeted data insights to advance policies that urgently shift the world to a clean, electrified energy future.