Despite impressive progress on wind and solar energy, India needs more international climate finance to scale up its wind and solar capacity five-fold to meet the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold set in the 2015 Paris Agreement, finds a new report.
According to the report by Climate Analytics and NewClimate Institute, although India is set to more than triple wind and solar capacity by 2030 compared to 2022, it would need further international climate finance support to scale five-fold to over 600 GW to meet growing demand and move away from coal dependence to meet the 1.5°C goal.
The analysis is part of a research exercise which delves into two game-changing technologies in the climate fight – wind and solar – to find out country-specific performances and the extra that needs to be done to achieve the climate targets to restrict the earth getting warmer by more than 1.5 degree Celsius. The research spans 11 countries, including India, that account for over 70 per cent of current wind and solar power. “The technologies need to grow five-fold by 2030 (three times faster than current yearly rates) and eight-fold by 2035 to meet global climate goals,” the report finds.
As per the government data, the total installed capacity of solar photovoltaic power and wind power in the country is about 90 GW and 46.65 GW respectively. India’s own target is to achieve 500 GW of installed capacity from non-fossil sources, including wind and solar, by 2030. However, as the report states, “enhanced international cooperation, including the provision of grants and concessional finance help to mobilise private capital” is urgently needed to ensure emerging and developing countries benefit equally from the renewables rollout.
This comes about a month after another report from think tank Ember claimed that annual wind installation in India is well below what is needed for the 2030 target. As per the report, India is targeting to build around 500 GW of renewables including 110 GW of wind. However, to achieve this, India needs to build 9.3 GW of wind capacity annual from 2024 to 2030 against the current 2.8 GW.
The report by Climate Analytics and NewClimate Institute aims to guide governments and present new climate targets following a COP 28 commitment to triple renewables in line with 1.5°C by 2030. Across the 11 countries, wind has a key near-term role, providing more electricity than solar until the mid-2030s in a 1.5 degree Celsius aligned transition. By 2050, solar becomes dominant, providing around half of total electricity generation, and wind around a third.
“Wind and solar are the bread and butter of the energy transition and represent the most powerful tools in our toolbox. As countries update their climate targets, sending a strong, clear message on the central role of wind and solar could be the defining policy action in getting the world on track for 1.5°C,” says Climate Analytics CEO Bill Hare.
