Solar installations fall 44% in 2023, says report

New Delhi: India has reported a 44 percent fall in solar installations at 7.5 gigawatt in 2023 due to land acquisition-related issues, research firm Mercom Capital said on Thursday.

According to the US-based research firm's latest report, a total of 13.4 Gigawatt (GW) solar capacity was installed in the country in 2023.

Public Sector's voice PSU Watch is now on Whatsapp Channels. Click here to join

As of December 2023, the cumulative installed solar capacity stood at 72 GW. Of which utility-scale projects accounted for 85.4 percent, and rooftop solar accounted for 14.6 percent, the report said.

"In 2023, large-scale solar installations fell 51 percent to 5.8 GW from 11.7 GW in 2022. Extensions granted to several large-scale projects and delays primarily due to land (acquisition) and transmission (connectivity) issues impacted capacity additions during the year. Large-scale solar accounted for 77.2 percent of annual solar capacity additions, and rooftop solar contributed 22.8 percent," it said.

Rajasthan followed by Karnataka, and Gujarat were the top three states for cumulative large-scale solar capacity, accounting for 54.8 percent of installations in the country as of December 2023.

India's large-scale solar project pipeline stood at 105.3 GW, with another 70.6 GW of projects tendered and pending auction, the report said.

Country's installed renewable energy capacity, including large hydropower projects, stood at 179.5 GW, accounting for 42 percent of the overall power mix at the end of December 2023.

Solar energy projects accounted for 48.5 percent of all new power capacity installed last year.

As of December 2023, solar energy accounted for 16.9 percent of India's total installed power capacity and almost 40.1 percent of the total installed renewable energy capacity.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)