Share of coal in power generation dips below 50%

The share of coal in India's total power generation capacity dipped below 50% for the first time since 1960’s.

  • The renewable energy trend is well ahead of India's target of achieving 50 %
    cumulative power generation capacity from non-fossil fuel-based sources by 2030.
  • At the United Nations' COP28 climate change conference in December last year, world leaders reached a historic agreement to transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels and triple the global renewable energy capacity by 2030.
  • India has risen to third place in the world's solar power generation rankings, trailing only China and the US
  • Solar power generated a record 5.5 percent of global electricity in 2023, with India generating 5.8 percent of its electricity from solar last year.
  • Solar remained the world's fastest-growing electricity source for the 19th consecutive year in 2023, adding more than twice as much new electricity worldwide as coal.
  • Solar's contribution to electricity generation in India surged from 0.5 percent in 2015 to 5.8 percent in 2023.
  • According to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) "Net Zero Emissions" scenario, solar would make up 22 percent of global electricity generation by 2030.

 

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India solar mission target:

The mission was inaugurated with a set target of 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar power by 2022 and was later amended in June 2015 to 1,00,000 MW by 2022. India had set a target of 100GW of solar energy capacity by year 2022 and achieved 70.10 GW by June 2023 while another 55.60 GW is under construction.

  • India is also expected to miss its goal of having 100 GW of installed solar capacity by about 27% this year
  • India is likely to miss its solar energy target of 300 GW (gigawatt) for 2030 by around 86 GW.