India Steps up the Pace

The world’s most populous country has lagged behind their renewable energy goals for several years, but not for much longer. Between March of this year and March 2025, India expects to add a record-setting 35 gigawatts of renewable energy to their grid.

Pavagada Solar Park, a 2,050 MW solar farm, seen from space. This facility in Karnataka state, India covers 53 square kilometres (20.5 square miles). Photo credit: Copernicus Sentinel Hub.

India fell short of their Paris Climate Accord target for renewable energy, but not for lack of effort. Since 2015, India has created several of the world’s largest solar parks. The demand for power grew as well, forcing the country to keep its coal powerplants in operation despite the increase in green energy. This trend was a necessary growing pain as India made vital changes to their industry and transportation. For instance, India’s extensive rail network has speed-run electrification, replacing their old diesel locomotives at a terrific pace—later this year, India’s broad-gauge rail network will be 100% electric. The grid has to support decarbonization of other sectors, which temporarily caused power demand to exceed the possible growth of renewable energy.

But this year looks to change that. India will connect 30 GW of solar and 5 GW of wind capacity in the coming months. That’s just the start. Indian financial institutions and clean energy developers are both opening the taps wide, promising $386 Billion in funding to add 570 GW of renewable energy by 2030. Additionally, two of India’s largest energy conglomerates, Reliance Industries and Adani Green Energy, have each made commitments to add 100 GW and 38.8 GW of renewable capacity respectively.

Having so much old fossil fuel infrastructure, rapid decarbonization was always going to pose challenges for India. But over those tough years the cost of renewables have come down and India has gained valuable experience in converting to electric, placing the world’s most populous country in good position to accelerate their green transition.