By Business India Editorial

Tamil Nadu took back from Karnataka the leader spot in overall installed renewable energy capacity in the country.

In 2018, Karnataka toppled Tamil Nadu to become the leader in total installed capacity in the clean energy sector, supported by huge capacity addition in the solar segment and good progress in the wind power capacity. In January 2019, Karnataka’s total renewable capacity was 13,402 MW, while Tamil Nadu’s total capacity was 12,125 MW. 

Thanks to faster capacity addition in Tamil Nadu in recent years across solar and wind segments, the State has now regained the top position that it had lost to Karnataka. 

As of 31 January, 2022, Tamil Nadu’s total installed renewable capacity stood at 15,914 MW as compared to Karnataka’s total clean energy capacity of 15,795 MW, according to the information provided by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). 

“Tamil Nadu has been one of the early proponents of clean energy and is at the forefront of India’s clean energy transition. We believe, with the State government’s endeavour to become energy self-sufficient, there is immense opportunity for solar energy generation across segments- rooftop, large-scale solar parks, wind-solar hybrid projects,” said Gyanesh Chaudhary, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Vikram Solar. 

Tamil Nadu’s total solar capacity increased to 4,894 MW (includes ground-mounted, rooftop and off-grid capacity) as of 31 January 2022, from 2,575 MW as of 31 March 2019, while wind capacity grew to 9,857 MW from 8,969 MW during the period. 

Karnataka’s solar capacity increased to 7,535 MW as of 31 January, 2022, from 6,096 MW as of 31 March, 2019, while its wind capacity grew to 5,077 MW from 4,695MW. 

Now, Gujarat is racing to become number one with a huge increase in capacity addition in recent months. As of 31 January, 2022, Gujarat’s total renewable capacity was 15,518 MW. It is the Number One state in total rooftop solar installations. Of the total 6,405 MW of rooftop capacity in the country, Gujarat accounted for 1,679 MW. 

“Rajasthan and Gujarat added the highest renewable capacity (4.8 GW and 2.4 GW respectively) in the current fiscal year till 31 January, 2022. Other renewable resource rich states such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh added a combined 2.2 GW of capacity during the same period,” Gagan Sidhu, Director, CEEW Centre for Energy Finance.

Gujarat has identified 1,00,000 hectares of wasteland in the Kutch district to build the world’s largest renewable energy park that may generate an energy of 30,000 MW. This hybrid park will accommodate wind and solar power plants of 24,800 MW capacity. 

Rajasthan is also not far behind in total renewable capacity and it is now the top solar state in India with a record installed capacity, overtaking Karnataka, which had held the position since 2018. As of January 31, 2022, Rajasthan’s total solar capacity crossed 10,000 MW, the first state to achieve this, and stood at 10,507 MW, followed by Karnataka (7,535 MW) and Gujarat (6,310 MW) and Tamil Nadu (4,894 MW). Rajasthan’s overall renewable capacity was 14,983 MW.