The National Institute of Solar Energy in India has determined the country's solar power potential at about 750 GW, a recently released document by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) shows.
The solar power potential has been estimated using the wasteland availability data in every state and jurisdiction of India. The estimate is based on the assumption that only 3% of the total wasteland available in a state is used for the development of solar power projects.
According to the estimates, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir have the highest solar power potential. Rajasthan with its healthy resource of solar radiation and availability of vast tracks of wasteland in the Thar desert has a potential of about 142 GW. Jammu and Kashmir receive the highest amount of solar radiation in India and has a significantly large area of wasteland in Ladakh. The state has an estimated potential of 111 GW.
Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have more than 60 GW of solar power potential. These are among the largest. These are among the largest of the Indian states thus have the largest wasteland resources. Both these states have ambitious solar power policies and plan to implement large-scale projects.
Gujarat, the leading Indian state in terms of installed solar power capacity, has an estimated potential of 36 GW. The state has large tracts of land covered with marshes but these lands also support a wide variety of wildlife. Gujarat already has an installed capacity of close to 900 MW of solar power and has already started developing utility-scale solar power projects over water canals.
India’s current solar power installed capacity is around 3 GW or less than 0.5% of the estimated potential. Naturally, there exists a massive opportunity to tap this potential. As a result, the Indian government has increased its solar power capacity addition target five-fold. Instead of the initial target to install 22 GW solar power capacity by 2022, the government now plans to add 100 GW capacity. This includes 20 GW of ultra mega solar power projects, with an installed capacity of 500 MW or more, across 12 states.
