Why in news?
As per the Global Electricity Review 2024, India surpassed Japan to claim the title of the world's third-largest solar power generator in 2023 as it has climbed from 9th ranking in 2015.
- India generated 113 Billion Units (BU) of solar power in 2023 compared to Japan’s 110 BU.
What’s in today’s article?
- Global Electricity Review 2024
- Key highlights of the report
- India specific observations made in the report
- Opportunities for Solar energy in India
Global Electricity Review 2024
- It was published by global energy think tank
- The report offers a comprehensive examination of the global power landscape in 2023, drawing on data from individual countries.
- It has analysed the data from 80 nations that represent 92% of global electricity demand, along with historical data from 215 countries.
- It provides a realistic summary of how on track the electricity transition is for limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees.
Key highlights of the report
- Share of solar energy in global electricity in 2023
- Solar produced a record 5.5 per cent of global electricity in 2023.
- Trajectory of solar energy has been accelerating rapidly
- For the nineteenth consecutive year, solar maintained its status as the fastest-growing electricity source worldwide.
- It outpaced coal in new electricity additions by more than two fold in 2023.
- Share of renewable energy in global electricity produced
- Renewable sources of energy made up 30% of global electricity Renewables have expanded from 19% (in 2000), driven by an increase in solar and wind power, to 30% (in 2023).
- Combined with nuclear, the world generated almost 40% of its electricity from low-carbon sources in 2023.
- Fossil fuel generation to drop in 2024
- The report forecasts fossil fuel generation to drop in 2024 and the trend to continue in other years.
- It suggests that 2023 might be the year when the fossil fuel production may have peaked globally.
- China is the main contributor in renewable energy in 2023
- China accounted for 51% of the additional global solar generation and 60% of new global wind generation in 2023.
India specific observations made in the report
- India as third-largest solar power generator in 2023
- India's growth in solar generation in 2023 pushed the country past Japan to become the world's third-largest solar power generator.
- It has climbed from ranking ninth in 2015.
- China and USA are two major producers ahead of India in 2023.
- In terms of installed solar power capacity, India ranks fifth in the world while Japan is at third place (83 GW).
- Share of solar energy in overall electricity produced
- In 2023, India generated 5.8% of its electricity from solar energy.
- India experienced the world's fourth-largest surge in solar generation in 2023
- It added 18 Terawatt hours (TWh) to its capacity, following China (+156 TWh), the United States (+33 TWh), and Brazil (+22 TWh).
- These top four countries collectively accounted for 75% of global solar growth that year.
- Solar energy generation in 2023 as compared to 2015
- Global solar generation in 2023 exceeded six times that of 2015, with India experiencing a seventeen-fold increase during the same period.
- India needs to significantly ramp up annual capacity additions to meet ambitious target
- India stands among the select few nations committed to tripling renewable capacity by 2030.
Opportunities for Solar energy in India
- Increasing demand
- The government’s ambitious target of 500 GW of installed capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030 is the main driver to scale solar power in India.
- India also accounts for the fastest rate of growth for demand of electricity through 2026 among major economies.
- This is because of strong economic activity and expanding consumption of products to mitigate extreme weather.
- According to NITI Aayog, as of May 2024, solar power while making up ~18% of India’s total installed electricity of 442 GW, made up only 66% of the power actually produced.
- This data reflects the gap between potential and actuals as the power produced per year can vary due to fluctuations in a country’s power demand and local circumstances.
- Estimated solar power potential
- The country has an estimated solar power potential of 748.99 GW.
- Hence, the potential of solar energy is not fully tapped, so far. The government is making efforts to harness the available potential through various schemes & programs.
