Solar power accounted for 15.9% of the total installed power capacity and 38.3% of the total installed renewable capacity in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023, up from 14% and 35.4% year-over-year (YoY).

India’s installed renewable energy capacity, including large hydro projects, stood at 173.5 GW, accounting for a 41.4% share of the overall power capacity mix at the end of the quarter, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), and Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker.

The renewable energy share in the cumulative power mix increased marginally from 170.3 GW quarter-over-quarter, representing 37.9 % of the overall power capacity mix.

Large hydro accounted for nearly 11.2% of the total installed power capacity as of June 2023, whereas Wind installations accounted for 10.4%.

Biomass and small hydro represented 2.6% and 1.2% of the total installed power capacity as of Q2 2023.

Energy from conventional sources

As of June 2023, the total installed power capacity from conventional sources stood at about 245.4 GW, making up 58.5% of all installations. This was a slight decrease from the previous quarter, where it made up 58.9% of all installations.

The data pertains to electricity generated from thermal sources including coal (49.1%), gas (5.9%), nuclear (1.8%), lignite (1.6%), and diesel (0.14%) as the main components.

Coal remained the top power source, with 205.9 GW of installations by the end of June 2023, a slight increase from 205.2 GW in the previous quarter.

Last November, the Ministry of Power proposed that any coal-based thermal generation station coming up after April 1, 2024, must either install or procure renewable energy equivalent to 25% of the thermal generation capacity.

Last year, the power ministry set the trajectory for replacing thermal power with renewables by the financial year 2025-26 to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030.