Gujarat’s solar capacity crosses 2.6 GW mark

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As of July 31, the state’s cumulative solar capacity stood at approximately 2.65 GW. The total included 2.26 GW of ground-mounted projects and 390.63 MW of rooftop PV capacity, all connected to the grid.

The cumulative total at the end of March was 2.11 GW of ground-mounted projects and 326.7 MW of rooftop capacity. Between April and July, Gujarat commissioned 207.56 MW of new solar, including 143.62 MW of ground-mounted installations and 63.95 MW of rooftop PV capacity. In July alone, the state installed 13.71 MW of ground-mounted capacity and 11.8 MW of rooftop.

As one of the richest solar states in the country, Gujarat’s trajectory has been remarkable. It jumped from just 5 MW of ground-mounted installations in fiscal 2010-11 to 550.34 MW in fiscal 2011-12, and has since edged up to 620.17 MW in fiscal 2018-19.

The state has upped its renewable energy ambitions with plans to surpass 30 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, representing 17% of the country’s target of 175 GW by 2022.

“We plan to increase capacity to 30,000 MW by 2022. Of this, 20,000 MW will be used in Gujarat and 10,000 MW will be sold to other states,” Finance Minister Nitin Patel said last month.

According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s state-level breakdown of the 2022 target, Gujarat will likely reach 8,020 MW of solar, 8,800 MW of wind and 255 MW of biomass. The ministry has also allocated Rs 1,000 crore for a new rooftop solar power generation scheme. Under the scheme, beneficiaries can claim a 40% subsidy on the cost of systems up to 3 kW in size, in addition to a 20% subsidy for systems with capacities between 3 kW and 10 kW.

Earlier this year, the Gujarat state government announced that it will add 2 GW of solar and 1 GW of wind every year until 2022. Since the first Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2003, more than 100 large investments have been made in the state, totalling Rs 40,000 crore.

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