India installed 1.2GW of open-access solar (private-contract backed solar) in 2021, a 213% growth from 383MW added in 2020, according to Mercom India Solar Open Access Market Report Q4 & Annual 2021.

Most of this capacity was installed in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

The nation surpassed a cumulative 5GW of open-access solar as of December 2021. Karnataka continues to lead with 38% of the country’s cumulative open access solar installations.

The development pipeline for open-access solar projects stood at 1.5GW as of December, with three states (Karnataka, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh) accounting for 75% of the capacity.

“Mitigating carbon footprint, reducing the cost of power, renewable power purchase obligations, and RE100 initiatives, the list of reasons for commercial and industrial consumers to go green is piling up. The demand for open access solar is growing, reflected in the robust pipeline of projects,” commented Priya Sanjay, managing director at Mercom India.

Q4 2021

Fourth quarterly open-access PV addition stood at 298MW, a 75% increase year-over-year (YoY). Uttar Pradesh led as it accounted for 38% of the total quarterly addition. “Robust policy and regulatory framework, including favorable banking policies, exemption of additional surcharges, the state’s willingness to allow group captive business models, access to useable land, and efficient power evacuation facilities, drove the open access segment in the state [Uttar Pradesh],” according to the analysts.

The second-highest capacity was installed in Maharashtra. The top five states accounted for about 90% of the total open access installations during Q4 2021.

Telangana recorded the maximum quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) growth of 329%, followed by Karnataka (102%) and Andhra Pradesh (88%).