Renewables sector misses FY20 target due to headwinds, Covid-19

The renewable energy capacity addition fell short of its target for 2019-20, adding only about three-fourth of the target for the fiscal.

As against the capacity addition target of 11,802 MW for 2019-20, the renewable energy sector added only about 8,711 MW, or about 74 per cent. In 2018-19, the sector added 8,432 MW of new capacity to the grid.

With lower addition in FY20, the sector has missed its capacity addition target for the fourth year in a row.

The sector added 11,754 MW in 2017-18 and 11,320 MW in 2016-17, its highest-ever additions. But in the last two years, new capacity addition slipped below 10,000 MW.

Though the sector was facing many challenges during FY20, the Covid-19 outbreak caused further damage to the capacity addition due to disruption in the supply chain for some parts in the manufacturing of solar modules.

Given the trend in the sector for many years, the second half of the fiscal — the March quarter, in particular — would see most of the new capacity coming into the grid as there will be a rush to complete projects before fiscal year-end. But this year, various factors prevented it.

Category-wise addition

The first half of FY20 saw the addition of 4273 MW to the grid, while the rest came in the second half.

The solar segment added 6,447 MW as against the target of 8,500 MW. Ground-mounted solar added 5,728 MW as against the target of 7,500 MW, while the rooftop category achieved 719 MW (target 1,000 MW).

The wind power segment added 2,068 MW (higher than 1,500 MW achieved in 2018-19) as against the target of 3,000 MW.

As on March 31, 2020, cumulative grid-connected installed renewable power capacity in India stood at 87,027 MW.

The solar segment had a cumulative installed capacity of 34,627 MW (includes 32,112 MW of ground-mounted and 2,515 MW of rooftop capacity). The total installed capacity of wind power sector stood at 37,694 MW as of March 2020.

Small hydro, biomass (bagasse cogeneration), biomass (non-bagasse/captive power) and small hydro had cumulative capacities of 4,683 MW, 9,200 MW and 675 MW respectively, according to the data provided by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Easing the burden

Meanwhile, the MNRE has been taking various steps to aid the Covid-19 impacted renewable sector. It has granted an extension for renewable projects considering disruption on account of lockdown due to Covid-19 for a period of 30 days beyond lockdown, saying that the situation is to be treated as force majeure .

Also, it seeks to give a major push towards setting up clean energy equipment manufacturing parks in the country. The MNRE has written to various State governments and port authorities to set aside land parcels of 50-500 acres for setting up such parks. Tuticorin Port Trust, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha have already expressed their keen interest.

The objective is to attract investments by companies that are shifting base from China.

These hubs will produce equipment like silicon ingots and wafers, solar cells and modules, wind equipment and ancillary items like steel frames, inverters, batteries etc. Presently, about 85 per cent of solar cells and modules in India are imported.

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