India solar to quadruple, wind to triple over a decade, power ministry adviser says
India’s solar power capacity is expected to quadruple over the next decade, while wind energy capacity could triple, according to a report published on Thursday by an adviser to the country’s power ministry.
The jump in renewables is expected to reduce India’s dependence on coal as a primary source of electricity generation to 49% by 2035-36, from more than 70% currently, according to the National Generation Adequacy Plan released by the Central Electricity Authority.
In its report, the CEA estimated that total non-fossil fuel capacity would reach 786 gigawatts by 2035-36, with solar energy comprising 65% of the clean power mix.
Nuclear capacity is expected to triple to 22 GW during that period, while large hydro electricity capacity is seen rising by 50% to 77 GW.
India’s pumped storage hydrpower capacity is projected to surge 13-fold to 94 GW, and battery storage capacity will hit 80 GW by 2035-36 from 0.27 GW currently, the document showed.
Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan, writing by Nandan Mandayam; Editing by Sonia Cheema
This article has been republished from The Reuters.