Renewable energy (wind and solar) accounted for 9.07% of the total installed captive capacity as of March 31, 2022, according to the General Review Report 2023, published by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

The generation from renewable captive power projects accounted for 3.25% of the total captive generation during FY 2021-22.

The total installed capacity of renewable captive power projects excluding hydropower, as of March 31, 2022, stood at 6.96 GW.

The total installed capacity of all captive projects, including thermal, renewables, gas, diesel, and hydropower, was 76.73 GW as of March 31, 2022. The installed capacity decreased by 2.26% from the previous year.

Source: CEA

In FY 2021-22, the cumulative electricity production from captive renewable power projects amounted to 6.81 TWh. Captive solar power projects contributed 2.79 TWh, while captive wind projects accounted for 4.02 TWh.

The generation of electricity from captive power projects witnessed a decline of 6.9% over the previous year, mainly due to the conversion of some non-utility projects to utility projects.

The installed capacity of captive solar power projects stood at 3.77 GW as of March 31, 2022, and that of wind at 3.19 GW.

Among the industries, the Textile Industry led the way, powered by 294.73 MW of installed captive solar power projects as of March 31, 2022, followed by the Cement Industry (277.65 MW). Next on the list was Collieries (222.79 MW), followed by the Chemical Industry (109.45 MW) and Heavy Industries (90.67 MW).

In terms of installed captive wind power projects, the Textile industry was at the top with 1.29 GW. The Chemical industry (306.69 MW) was second. Next on the list was Iron and Steel (144.18 MW), followed closely by Light Engineering (116.29 MW) and Cement (109.76 MW).

Out of the total installed capacity of captive power projects across various industries at the end of March 31, 2022, solar captive power projects accounted for 3.76 GW, and wind power projects accounted for 3.19 GW capacity.

Maharashtra was the top state in installed captive solar projects with 901.16 MW, followed by Rajasthan with 355.56 MW. Next on the list were Gujarat (326.58 MW), Tamil Nadu (301.08 MW), and Uttar Pradesh (293.17 MW).

Tamil Nadu led in terms of installed captive wind power projects, boasting a capacity of 1.75 GW. Gujarat came next with 809.37 MW, followed by Karnataka at 252.17 MW. Andhra Pradesh had a capacity of 93.39 MW and Rajasthan 87.13 MW.

Power Generation

In terms of electricity generation from captive solar power projects in FY 2021-22, the cement industry led the way with 311 GWh, followed by the textile industry (277 MW) and collieries (235 MW). Next on the list were automobiles (181 GWh) and chemical industry (94 MW).

The textile industry led in terms of electricity generation from captive wind power projects with 1.49 TWh, followed by the chemical industry (663 GWh). Cement, with 175 GWh, was next on the list, followed by iron and steel (174 GWh), light engineering (164 GWh), and oil and petroleum (164 GWh).

Source: CEA

Maharashtra had the highest electricity generation from captive solar projects with 551.64 GWh, followed by Telangana with 388.23 GWh. Rajasthan (376.02 MW), Tamil Nadu (311.53 MW), and Karnataka (300.69 GWh) were the other states in the top five.

Tamil Nadu accounted for the highest captive wind generation with 1.98 TWh, followed by Gujarat with 1.14 TWh. Others on the list were Karnataka (375.01 GWh), Maharashtra (289.82 GWh), and Rajasthan (124.6 GWh).

Recently, CEA released guidelines for state utilities to create medium and long-term projections to evaluate the country’s electricity demand.

Earlier, CEA had estimated that India’s solar capacity at 292.6 GW will surpass the thermal generation capacity of 276.5 GW (251.7 GW of coal and 24.8 GW of gas) by FY 2030.