India adds 4.8 GW of solar capacity in H1

The Indian solar market added 1,869 megawatts (MW) in the second quarter of 2017, bringing installations in the first half of the year to 4,765 MW (surpassing the 4,313 MW installed in all of 2016) according to the latest India Solar Market Update released by Mercom India Research.

Large-scale solar installations totaled 1,639 MW in Q2 2017 while rooftop installations accounted for 230 MW. In the first half of 2017, large-scale solar installations made up 4,290 MW (90 percent) and rooftop installations totaled 475 MW (10 percent) of total installations. Cumulative solar rooftop installations crossed a significant milestone of 1 GW at the end of Q2 2017.

“The Indian solar market had its best first half and is on pace to have its best year,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-founder of Mercom Capital Group. “However, uncertainty around GST rates, utilities renegotiating to get better rates, and the recently initiated anti-dumping case have stalled momentum in the sector and could have a significant negative effect on installations in 2018.”

Andhra Pradesh became the first state in India to install over 2 GW of solar. Currently, seven states have exceeded 1 GW of solar installations.

The pipeline of Indian utility-scale projects under construction is currently 12.2 GW with about 6.3 GW of tenders pending to be auctioned.

Approximately 3.4 GW of solar was tendered in Q2 2017 compared to 1.85 GW in Q1 this year. There were 2.5 GW of solar projects auctioned in Q2 2017 compared to 1.3 GW in Q1 2017.

The lowest bid in solar reverse auctions declined significantly by about 26 percent from Q1 to Q2 2017 and average large-scale solar project costs in Q2 2017 were approximately `4 crore (~$0.62 million)/MW.

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