As India continues to add new solar power capacity at a rapid pace the amount of electricity generated from these assets is also increasing to levels never seen before.
The Central Electricity Authority of India recently reported that in February 2017 India’s solar power capacity generated a total of 1.355 billion kWh of electricity, marking the first time ever when the monthly solar power generation exceeded 1 billion kWh mark.
Compared to the same month last year the power generated in February 2017 was 80% higher. The overall power generated from the entire renewable energy capacity increased only 17%. All renewable energy technologies except bagasse-based cogeneration reported a substantial increase in power generation.
The largest jump in solar power generation was reported in the southern region which saw sharp increase in the installed capacity. Several southern states, like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka saw several projects commissioned over the last few months following a string of auctions. Solar power generation in the southern states increased from 175 million kWh in February 2016 to 649 million kWh in February 2017. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka reported four times jump each in the power generation. Tamil Nadu, home to the largest solar power project in India, reported 173% increase in power generation.
Solar power generation in India is set to increase at an even more rapid pace as the country is expected to add record amount of capacity over the next few months. A recent report forecasted that India will surpass Japan to become the third-largest solar power market in the world this year.
India recently crossed the 10 gigawatts installed solar capacity mark. The Indian government expects to add 20 gigawatts over the next 15 months.
