REPORT - India forecast to install 10 GW of solar in 2017

India is expected to install about 10 GW of solar in 2017, which will mark a jump of about 130% compared to the 4.3 GW added last year, Mercom Capital Group said today as it unveiled its quarterly update on the local solar market.

As at the end of the first quarter of 2017, the country's cumulative solar installations have reached 12.8 GW, including about 12 GW of utility-scale facilities and only almost 850 MW of rooftop arrays. The utility-scale project pipeline at the moment stands at about 12.6 GW and there are about 6.1 GW of tenders pending auction, Mercom said.

The research firm, however, noted that tender and auction activity has been slowing down over the last couple of quarters. In the first quarter, about 1.9 GW of solar was tendered, 1 GW of which was retendered, compared to 3.4 GW in the fourth quarter of 2016. The solar projects auctioned totalled 1.3 GW, compared to 255 MW in the preceding quarter.

"Rapidly falling tariffs have resulted in solar closing in on parity with coal in recent auctions, which is expected to increase demand in the future," said Raj Prabhu, chief executive and co-founder of Mercom Capital Group. "However, tender activity has slowed recently and the government needs to address transmission bottlenecks, finances of distribution companies and slowing demand for continued growth," added Prabhu.

The rooftop market, meanwhile, has been hampered by the lack of policy support, with few states having a functioning net-metering programme.

Mercom, nevertheless, expects that the Indian solar market will remain one of the most important in the world over the next five years.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!