India becomes 3rd-largest generator of electricity from wind and solar: Report

The country added 24 GW of solar capacity in 2024, surpassing Germany and Japan to reach the spot — trailing only China and the US

India has overtaken Germany to become the world’s third-largest generator of electricity from wind and solar, according to a new report from London-based energy think tank Ember. Globally, wind and solar accounted for 15% of electricity generation, with India close behind at 10%.

Solar, especially, is what drove the growth in renewable capacity in both India and globally. According to Ember’s annual ‘Global Electricity Review’ report, global solar generation doubled in three years to exceed 2,000 TWh in 2024. India’s solar output also doubled over the same period, translating to a 7% share in electricity generation. 

In fact, India added 24 GW of solar capacity in 2024, more than twice the additions in 2023, making it the third largest globally after China and the US. 

Renewables bridging the gap to meet new energy demand

In India, electricity demand grew by 5% in 2024. According to the report, renewables met 33% of the increased demand, with coal supplying the majority at 64%. But this was significantly lower than in 2023, when coal met 91% of the increase, pointing to the renewables growing capacity. 

“In terms of renewable energy expansion, India is at the point where China was a few years ago. Now, China is meeting new electricity demand with renewables. Sooner or later, the turning point will come when India can also do the same,” said Nicolas Furghum, senior analyst at Ember and one of the lead authors of the study. 

According to the report, by 2030, renewables can meet 75% of India’s increased electricity demand. Large-scale renewable deployment is needed for that, but it is feasible.

“It depends on how fast electricity demand is growing. Going by the number of wind and solar projects under-construction currently and in the pipeline, electricity generation from these two sources can potentially double by 2028 from current levels. The rate and speed of renewable expansion is only increasing,” Fulghum told CarbonCopy.

In fact, India is ahead of most developing nations, in absolute terms of increasing renewable capacity, according to him.

“The reason is that there is a domestic manufacturing base, and large-scale renewable projects, especially solar, are already on the ground. India has expertise to leverage the build up. It has to accelerate the existing wind and solar economies,” said Fulghum.

In fact, such robust renewables growth in India and elsewhere led to an important milestone — in 2024, more than 40% of the world’s electricity generation came from low-carbon sources, including renewables and nuclear, for the first time since the 1940s, found the report. This outlines the fact that clean power is on track to outpace fast-rising demand, setting the stage for a decline in fossil generation at a global level. 

Solar energy can be solution during heatwave

According to the report, heatwaves were responsible for almost a fifth of the increase in global electricity demand last year. This led to a small increase — 1.4% — in fossil fuel generation, globally. In the absence of heatwaves, this rise would have been just 0.2%, as clean electricity generation met 96% of the demand growth not caused by rising temperatures. 

In India, electricity demand rose by 10.4% in the summer months of April, May and June, compared to the same period in 2023, primarily due to more usage of air conditioning. 

Here again, solar presents a solution.

“Solar is faster to deploy, and its output matches the high demand scenario during heatwave. When there’s a lot of cooling demand during the afternoon, electrical output from solar is also the most during that time in the day. From a grid and reliability point, solar is best,” Fulghum told CarbonCopy.

Even though the utilisation rate of electricity generation of solar is lower compared to other sources, its fast deployment rate and cost effectiveness make it best suited to meeting rising energy demands.

“Solar power took only 8 years to increase from 100-2000 TWH, while wind took 15 years, and hydropower took six decades,” said Fulghum, adding that the addition of 593 GW of solar, globally, in 2024, is unprecedented. “There has never been a year where 600 GW of anything was added.”

There are economic advantages of solar, too — it is the cheapest form of new electricity, even considering the entire emission cycle of mining for materials, panel manufacturing, according to Fulghum.

“The running cost of solar is nearly zero, it generates electricity at low cost. When compared to coal and gas, it is much cheaper. Solar is a homegrown energy source, while opening up a new coal plant means that it is tied to the coal supply chain for the next 40-50 years,” he said.

In other words, solar seems to be not just a quick fix, but also a reasonable choice for meeting the increasing electricity demand, especially for a tropical country like India.

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Shaswata Kundu Chaudhuri

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