India to add 35GW RE this year

India will connect a record 35 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind energy capacity to its grid during the year ending March 2025, as it scrambles to achieve its 2030 clean energy target after falling short of a much-publicised 2022 renewables goal.

There was a lot of market demand for battery-linked storage projects, adding that more tenders for such projects can be expected going forward, according to officials.

India is still 13% short of a pledge made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the UN climate talks in Paris in 2015 to increase its renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022.

It is the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter, although per capita emissions from its population of about 1.5 billion people are among the lowest among major economies.

The south Asian nation will need to add about 30% more clean capacity every year than the expected wind and solar additions this fiscal year to achieve its end-2030 target of increasing its non-fossil power capacity to 500 GW, underscoring the challenges in meeting its clean energy goals.