As utility-scale solar in India takes off, two large power conglomerates – Tata Power and Adani – are leading project development activity. Cumulative large-scale solar installations reached ~13.6 GW in Q2 2017 with more than 4.2 GW of large-scale solar installed during the entire first half of 2017. Mercom India Research forecasts approximately 9.7 GW of large-scale solar projects will be installed during the full-year 2017 in its Q2 2017 India Solar Quarterly Market Update.

Installed Capacity:

Tata Power had the largest cumulative installed capacity at the end of Q2 2017. Adani came in second with 877 MW as it moved up a spot from third-place in Q1 2017. Most of Tata Power’s installed capacity came from its 2016 acquisition of Welspun’s solar portfolio.

As of Q2 2017, the utility-scale project pipeline in India stood at roughly 12.2 GW with about 6.3 GW of tenders pending auction. Mercom India Research reduced its overall installation forecast for 2018 due to the slowdown in tender and auction activity caused by the uncertainty surrounding the GST, an anti-dumping investigation, and a sudden increase in Chinese module prices, among other reasons.

There were more than 250 large-scale project developers and companies in India with operational projects of at least 5 MW or more, but the top 20 developers accounted for more than 60 percent of all operating utility-scale projects as of Q2 2017. Large conglomerates and private equity-backed pure-play developers are leading large‑scale project development.

Development Pipeline:

Adani had a solar project pipeline of ~1.2 GW as of Q2 2017. In June 2017, the company commissioned 50 MW of solar projects in Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh, and 30 MW of solar for the Kurnool Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh. Thanks to its recent expansion, Adani was also the leader in manufacturing capacity in India.

There were 110 project developers with individual project pipelines of 5 MW or more in India in Q2 2017. Adani was followed by ACME with a solar project pipeline of ~1.1 GW. Adani and ACME were the only two developers with pipelines greater than 1 GW. ReNew Power came in third with a project pipeline of ~800 MW.

For the complete market share list and full report, visit: Q2 2017 India Solar Quarterly Market Update

Image Credit: Kolforn (Wikimedia) [CC BY-SA 4.0 or Attribution], via Wikimedia Commons