India installed 7.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in the calendar year (CY) 2023, a 44 per cent decrease year-over-year (YoY) from 13.4 GW installed in CY22, according to a latest report.
In 2023, large-scale solar installations fell 51 per cent YoY to 5.8 GW from 11.7 GW in 2022, said the report by Mercom India Research.
“Extensions granted to several large-scale projects and delays primarily due to land and transmission issues impacted capacity additions during the year. Large-scale solar accounted for 77.2 per cent of annual solar capacity additions, and rooftop solar contributed 22.8 per cent,” it added.
It said that in Q4 2023, India added 1.8 GW of solar capacity, a 6.6 per cent decrease compared to the 1.9 GW installed in Q3 2023 while installations fell 41 per cent compared to 3.1 GW installed in Q4 2022.
As of December 2023, the cumulative installed solar capacity stood at 72 GW. Utility-scale projects accounted for 85.4 per cent, and rooftop solar accounted for 14.6 per cent of cumulative installations, said the report.
India’s large-scale solar project pipeline stood at 105.3 GW with another 70.6 GW of projects tendered and pending auction at the end of 2023.
India’s installed renewable energy capacity, including large hydropower projects, stood at 179.5 GW, accounting for 42 per cent of the overall power mix at the end of December 2023. Solar energy projects accounted for 48.5 per cent of all new power capacity added in 2023, the report added.
