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With improvements in new capacity addition in the past few years, Tamil Nadu is likely to regain the top position in overall renewable power capacity, which it lost to Karnataka a few years ago.
In 2018, Karnataka toppled Tamil Nadu to emerge as the leader in total installed capacity in the renewable power sector, supported by faster capacity addition, particularly in the solar segment and significant increase in wind power capacity.
Also see: National Hydrogen Mission can reshape renewable energy future: Industry
However, Tamil Nadu has been narrowing the gap with Karnataka in overall capacity with strong capacity addition in the last couple of years.
In January 2019, the gap between two States was more than 900 MW and as of February this year, the gap narrowed to 450 MW.
As of July 31, Karnataka’s total renewable power capacity stood at 15,573 MW, while Tamil Nadu’s total capacity was 15,458 MW, according to information provided by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
Growth in both States
With several new projects in the pipeline, Tamil Nadu is likely to overtake Karnataka in the coming months and regain its position as the leader in the sector .
Tamil Nadu’s total solar capacity increased to 4594 MW (includes ground-mounted, rooftop and off-grid capacity) from 2575 MW (excluding off-grid) as of March 31, 2019, while the wind power sector’s total capacity grew to 9717 MW from 8969 MW during this period.
Karnataka’s total solar capacity grew to 7452 MW from 6096 MW as of March 31, 2019, while its wind power sector’s capacity increased marginally to 4939 MW from 4695 MW during this period.
Karnataka plans to boost renewable capacity with a new policy, which seeks to develop 20 GW of projects including 2 GW rooftop solar projects by 2026.
Solar and wind
While Karnataka remains the leader in solar power in the country, Tamil Nadu continues to maintain its leadership position in the wind power segment. In solar capacity, Tamil Nadu ranks fourth after Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
“While India’s aggregated installed renewable capacity has crossed 100 GW, Tamil Nadu has a 7.38 GW of new coal power plants under construction, failed to meet its renewable energy purchase obligations for the last seven years and has prevented the progress of rooftop solar energy by introducing policy and regulatory hurdles, said Martin Scherfler, Co-Founder, Auroville Consulting.
“It’s time for the State to resume its role as a global renewable energy leader and accelerate its transmission towards a carbon free energy future,” he added.
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