Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 11 2022
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AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec
India set to add
32GW of solar
manufacturing
INDIA INDIA could add 18GW of solar module and each of both solar cell and modules production
14GW of solar cell production capacity over the capacity.
next two years. The government is preparing to go head-
The country’s major industrial giants and a to-head with Chinese solar manufacturers by
number of new entrants are exploring the mar- providing huge financial incentives to aid the
ket, driven by the Indian government’s produc- production of solar modules and cells across the
tion-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for solar PV country.
manufacturing, India’s JMK Research said. India said at COP26 that it aimed to reach
The government has set aside INR240bn net zero by 2070 and intends to supply 50% of its
($3.2bn) crores to support solar manufacturing overall energy needs using current and explor-
and aims to support the development of 40-50 atory renewable sources. It will also increase
GW of module production capacity. The country non-fossil fuel generation by the end of the cur-
currently has 18GW of module capacity ad 4GW rent decade – an estimated total of 500 GW if
of cell capacity achieved.
India currently imports 80% of its solar com- India’s dependence on Chinese imports
ponents from China and needs to develop its extends across the entire energy sector. Rela-
domestic capacity if it is to meet a government tions between the two have worsened over fears
target of 280 GW of solar power by 2030. of cyber-attacks, border conflicts and pandem-
JMK Research said that the industry needed ic-related supply disruptions.
to invest in upskilling the workforce, boosting US support for India’s solar industry is being
R&D infrastructure and most crucially, adopt- pursued against a background of regional rivalry
ing uniform, long-term policies for the Indian with China, which is currently the largest pro-
solar sector. vider of India’s solar panels.
India is currently not a hub of solar manu- In December India’s Minister of New and
facturing and is reliant on China for imports, Renewable Energy (MNRE), Raj Kumar Singh,
but there is great potential, and confidence, in its told parliament that the country had 107.46 GW
solar growth story, the report said. of fully installed solar, or in-part completed, pro-
The forecast comes as the government said in jects, of which 42.26 GW of connected capacity
February that it was looking to around 25GW was already in place.
Week 11 16•March•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
