India become world’s third largest solar power generator
India has overtaken Japan to become the world’s third-largest solar power generator in 2023, according to a report by the global energy think tank, Ember.
The Global Electricity Review 2024, released on Wednesday, offers a detailed analysis of power generation systems worldwide in 2023. It was published alongside the world’s first open dataset on electricity generation in 2023, covering 80 countries representing 92% of global electricity demand.
The report shows that solar power’s share in global electricity production surged to a record 5.5 percent in 2023. India witnessed the world’s fourth-largest increase in solar generation in 2023 (+18 Terawatt hours or TWh), following China (+156 TWh), the United States (+33 TWh), and Brazil (+22 TWh). Together, these top four solar growth countries accounted for 75 percent of the overall growth in 2023.
From ranking ninth in 2015, India has substantially expanded its solar generation capacity. The report indicates that its share of solar power surged from 0.5 percent in 2015 to 5.8 percent in 2023.
Globally, solar power generation accelerated sixfold between 2015 and 2023, with India witnessing a seventeen-fold increase in solar generation capacity during the same period.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that solar power will constitute 22 percent of global electricity generation by 2030. The report suggests that the goal set at COP28 to triple global renewables capacity by 2030 holds the potential to steer the world toward this trajectory.
India is one of the few countries aiming to triple renewable capacity by 2030. However, Ember’s analysis underscores the necessity for a substantial increase in annual capacity additions for India to achieve this target.
