India’s total installed capacity of power generation plants based on renewable energy crossed the 100-GW milestone on August 12, 2021.
The renewable energy capacity entailed in this 100 GW excludes large hydropower (see note ahead). The total installed capacity of large hydropower plants currently stands at around 46 GW.
A government release observed that India currently ranks fourth in the world in terms of total installed renewable energy capacity, fifth in terms of solar power capacity and fourth with regards to wind energy capacity.
“India has set ambitious targets for itself in the area of renewable energy, which the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is committed to achieve,” a government release said.
While 100 GW has been installed, 50 GW is under installation and 27 GW is under tendering. India has also enhanced its ambition to install 450 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
The achievement of installed RE capacity of 100 GW is an important milestone in India’s journey towards its target of 450 GW by 2030, the release added.
Explanatory note by T&D India
A “large” hydropower plant is one with installed capacity exceeding 25 mw. Those smaller than 25 MW are referred to as “small” hydropower plants. Large hydropower comes under the purview of the power ministry whereas the small ones are under the ministry of new & renewable energy’s ambit. This arrangement has its roots in the formation of a separate ministry for renewable energy. In around 1992, the Ministry for New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), as it now called, was formed as “Ministry for Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNCES)”. As small hydropower projects were not “conventional” forms of electricity generation, they came under the ambit of MNCES. The power ministry looked at conventional electricity generation plants — mainly thermal, nuclear and large hydropower.
Large hydropower plants are also clean sources of energy, as much as small hydropower plants are. There is hence a growing consensus of treating large hydropower plants as renewable energy sources. It may be mentioned that Central government agencies like CEA have started reporting renewable energy generation – both with and without large hydropower. This is a move to take cognizance of large hydropower as a renewable energy sources.
All the same, the national target of attaining 450 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 does not include large hydropower, as of now at least.
