Gujarat’s renewable energy capacity set to touch 12,000 MW

Installed capacity of renewable energy in Gujarat is likely to touch the 12,000-MW mark in the coming days due to the state government’s push for solar power generation, especially that of rooftop solar energy.

Sources in the Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA), a premier organisation working in the field of renewable energy development and energy conservation, said that in the current financial year, the state has increased around 450 MW additional installed capacity in renewable energy. This has pushed installed capacity of renewable energy in Gujarat to 11,180 MW from 10,730 MW.

Confirming the development, a senior official in the state energy department said that despite the pandemic, Gujarat has emerged the frontrunner in rooftop solar energy. Gujarat has the lion’s share of 360 MW in India’s rooftop solar addition of nearly 880 MW during the period.

As against this, the state has added hardly 40 MW of wind power energy.

“We are expecting a huge increase in the ground-mounted solar power as well as wind power generation capacities in the state in coming days as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform the ground-breaking ceremony of the world’s largest renewable energy park of 41,500 MW in the Rann of Kutch on December 15. The upcoming park would house solar as well as wind energy units,” the official said.

Players including the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), NTPC, GSEC, Suzlon and Adani Group have decided to start power generation activities at this hybrid park, he said.

He said Gujarat currently has wind power generation of around 7,550 MW. In the case of solar power, the installed capacity is 3,640 MW, which includes 2,770 MW of ground-mounted and 870 MW of rooftop capacity. Since 2017-18, the state has added more than 700 MW of rooftop solar power generation capacity. In 2019-20, the state added the highest ever wind power generation capacity of 1,471 MW.