India Has Potential For Another 23.7 GW of Clean Energy by 2026: GWEC

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and MEC Intelligence have launched a report on “Renewing Wind Growth to Power the Energy Transition: India Wind Energy Market Outlook 2026”. This third annual edition looking at the wind energy outlook in India highlights wind energy’s critical link to India’s green energy transition. The outlook suggests that the country can add another 23.7 GW of capacity within the next five years provided necessary enabling policies, facilitative instruments, and the right institutional interventions are put in place.

Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC said, “This Outlook is published as the world faces a decisive moment; there is a narrow window of opportunity to halt the irreversible damage to this planet from climate change by making an urgent shift to clean energy. India can seize this opportunity, but it must kick-start its energy transition after delays due to the pandemic.”

He added, “To seize this enormous opportunity, India must focus on three areas: Dialogue between the central government and the states to foster consensus building; delivery to help match timelines and targets, and the potential for India to be a destination for the global wind manufacturers and suppliers.”

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Wind power constituted the majority of the renewable energy mix in India, with 37.7% of cumulative installed capacity, as of March 2022. However, the overall estimated potential dwarfs the current installed capacity. There is over 600 GW of onshore capacity at 120m hub height, with another 174 GW of fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind potential. These statistics demonstrate that there is a huge untapped wind energy potential that will be crucial for advancing the country’s clean energy transition.

Sumant Sinha, Chairperson, GWEC India, said “If India is to achieve its climate goals set at COP26, it must harness the full potential of its enormous wind capacity, including offshore, at an accelerated pace. We can do it.”

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The outlook finds that the market in India has been affected by the pandemic, with the second wave of COVID-19 in the country, coupled with global supply chain challenges, causing disruption. However, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) took several measures at this time. For example, the ministry granted a blanket timeline extension, which pushed the 0.7 GW of delayed projects to 2022.

Between 2021 and until the release of this edition, 2.65 GW of the SECI awarded wind/solar hybrid (WSH) tenders and 3.5 GW of standalone wind projects were awarded. Unlike the previous years, both standalone and hybrid projects were oversubscribed, this reinstates the ever-growing prominent role of wind energy for decarbonization and resilience building in the grid system.

Sidharth Jain, MD, MEC Intelligence said, “Wind solar hybrid project PPAs have grown within corporate procurement and DISCOMs contracts, targeted toward meeting peak power needs. The export of bigger turbines and the entry of new suppliers into the local supply market have both reinforced India’s position as a global hub for wind equipment supplies. Given the trends, we are hopeful of the revitalization of demand for wind power towards 2026 in the country.”

There is a huge untapped opportunity in the Indian market, with the outlook providing insight into how the country can unlock the full potential of wind resources with five broad recommendations:

• Strengthen consensus and coordination between central and state governments.
• Promote technology exchange and alignment to the global wind supply chain
• Exploit repowering opportunities that offer an efficient pathway for India to maximize productivity and socioeconomic benefits from sites already designated for onshore wind power production
• Address the legacy challenges which have disrupted the development of wind energy
• Finalise and implement offshore wind development roadmaps