Solar power swings between hope & despair

The pairing of ‘hope and despair’ has probably never been done better than in 2018-19 for the Indian solar sector. The fact that the government tendered out capacities of 14,230 MW in the previous year spawned joyous hope at the beginning of the year; the denouement, however, was anti-climactic.

2018-19 turned out to be a forgettable year, with fresh capacity additions tottering to a paltry 6,529 MW as against 9,010 MW in the previous year, according to data supplied by the Central Electricity Authority.

Coming on top of a dismal performance by the solar’s sister, the wind industry, which added a mere 1,580 MW in 2018-19, it was a forgettable year for the whole of the renewable energy.