India’s Q1 solar power production surges 103%

May 4 (Renewables Now) - Solar photovoltaic (PV) parks in India generated 8.54 billion kWh of electricity in the first quarter of 2018, registering a 103% year-on-year jump, Mercom Capital Group said on Friday.

Solar power production was also 31% higher as compared to the fourth quarter of last year, which saw generation of over 6.5 billion kWh, the consultancy said, citing data from India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The growth was achieved on the back of rising solar capacity additions.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, the cumulative installed solar power capacity in India at the end of January was 20 GW, while at the end of March it exceeded 22 GW. First-quarter capacity deployments surged due to the commissioning of several large-scale PV parks that could not secure grid-connection last year.

For 2018, Mercom previously projected that India will put on stream 7 GW of fresh PV capacity, expecting the market to be affected by the rising prices of Chinese PV modules, certain infrastructure and power evacuation issues and the renegotiation of power purchase agreements (PPAs) terms in line with the record-low level of solar tariffs.