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08-03-2025
Bureau Report
NEW DELHI: India’s renewable energy sector is facing obstacles including weak demand for tenders, power agreement delays and project cancellations, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said on Thursday.
The country issued a record 73 gigawatts of utility-scale renewable energy tenders in 2024, but about 8.5 GW was undersubscribed – five times higher than in 2023 amid lower demand due to complex tender structures and delays in interstate transmission readiness, IEEFA said in a report.
India’s cumulative unsigned power sale agreement capacity has exceeded 40 GW, with tenders from top clean energy agency Solar Energy Corporation of India alone accounting for about 12 GW, IEEFA, which tracks and examines issues on energy markets and policies, said.
Meanwhile, about 38.3 GW of capacity was cancelled from 2020 to 2024, 19% of the total due to tender design issues, location or technical challenges, undersubscription and delays in signing power supply agreements, the report added.
“Delays in project implementation pose a significant challenge to India’s renewable energy target for 2030,” said Ashita Srivastava, senior research associate at JMK Research and co-author of the report.
“(The) issues … could deter investor interest in future renewable energy projects in India, potentially affecting the availability of low-cost financing from large-scale investors,” Srivastava said.
The challenges highlight the struggles faced by India’s renewable energy sector as the government targets at least 500 GW of non-fossil power capacity by 2030, up from 165 GW currently.
India has also fallen short of its previous goal of adding 175 GW by 2022, with fossil fuels accounting for more than two-thirds of the total power generation last year.
The country added nearly 28 GW of solar and wind capacity in 2024, with solar power additions accounting for 70% of the total, according to the renewable energy ministry.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis reported on Thursday that India’s renewable sector faces a number of obstacles, including a weak demand for bids, delays in power agreements and cancellations of projects.
IEEFA reported that the country issued a record number of 73 gigawatts for utility-scale renewable energies tenders in 2024. However, about 8.5 GW were undersubscribed, five times more than in 2023, due to lower demand caused by complex tender structures and delays with interstate transmission readiness.
IEEFA, a group that tracks and analyses issues related to energy markets and policies and tracks India’s unsigned power sales agreements, reported that India’s total capacity of unsigned power purchase agreements has exceeded 40 GW. Tenders from the top clean energy agency Solar Energy Corporation of India account for approximately 12 GW.
The report also stated that about 38.3GW of capacity, or 19%, was cancelled between 2020 and 2024 due to design problems, technical difficulties, lack of demand, delays in signing agreements for power supply, and issues with tenders.
Ashita Srivastava is a senior research associate and co-author at JMK Research.
Srivastava stated that “(the) issues could deter investors from future renewable energy projects, affecting the availability and affordability of low-cost funding by large-scale financiers.”
India’s renewable power sector faces many challenges as it aims to reach 500 GW by 2030. This is an increase from the current 165 GW.
