Mercom: India falls behind on installation targets

With 25 of India’s states falling behind on Renewable Purchase Obligation targets, the country’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is now requesting that the individual states take action to ensure compliance.

January 18, 2017 Mark Hutchins

Tamil Nad

According to industry analysts Mercom capital, 2.25 GW had been installed in India by 31^st December 2016, against a target of 12 GW for the financial year. A state-by-state progress report from MNRE shows that 14 states are on track, having installed at least 60% of their target for 2016/17.

Mercom estimates that an additional 2.34 GW of solar is needed from the 25 states in order to fulfil the solar RPO. An MNRE official stated that delays caused by infrastructure issues is one of the causes, and that RPO targets will become more achievable with the development of the Green Energy Corridor, a project designed to facilitate the transmission of renewable energy between states.

“Mostly, the reason for non compliance is financial,” stated Mercom CEO Raj Prabhu. “The financial health of distribution companies has been a primary hurdle for India. This needs to turn around sooner rather than later for more robust renewables installations which would in turn increase RPO compliance.”

In spite of these warnings, 2017 is expected to be a huge year for solar in India, with almost 3 GW set to be tendered in the near future. Analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance have also stated that India will likely install more than 10 GW of renewables over the year.

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