Jaipur: Rajasthan has crossed a historic milestone with 50,000MW of renewable energy installed capacity, according to data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Of this, solar plants contribute 44,135MW, the highest in the country.The state now accounts for 27% of India’s total solar capacity of 164,595MW. Gujarat is the only state with a larger overall renewable capacity at 52,610MW, but it trails Rajasthan in solar at 33,764MW.Gujarat has instead emerged as the leader in wind power, with 16,613MW, while Rajasthan’s wind capacity has stagnated for years at 5,541MW.Rajasthan Solar Association president Sunil Bansal said the achievement is significant, but cautioned that growth can only be sustained if supporting infrastructure keeps pace.“No doubt it’s a defining moment for Rajasthan. There is no other state that can beat us in solar power in the foreseeable future,” he said.He added that the achievement places greater responsibility on the state govt to strengthen power evacuation systems, which he said have not received adequate attention.A senior official of Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL) said the 50,000MW milestone is just the tip of the iceberg given the state’s robust renewable energy project pipeline. “The pipeline is over 60,000MW, waiting to be set up. The investments would be huge,” the official said.Industry representatives agreed that new solar generation projects are almost assured. They stressed, however, that the focus must now shift to storage systems.“We have seen how solar plants are asked to shut down during the day because demand is low. The govt’s priority should be battery storage, but progress is not happening on that front at the required speed,” an industry representative said.The state has also lagged in attracting solar manufacturing companies.“Generation plants do not create jobs like solar panel and other equipment manufacturing projects. In Rajasthan, the policy for manufacturing has historically been very unattractive. The state govt has failed to attract equipment makers to take advantage of its vast generation capacity,” an industry expert said.Raj Sun’s Own CountryState Solar Wind Total REGujarat: 33,764 16,613 52,610Rajasthan 44,135 5,541 50,335Maharashtra 20,347 6,415 33,194Tamil Nadu 14,121 12,299 29,802Karnataka 11,636 8,915 27,442Country 1,64,595 58,137 2,91,726All fig in megawatt; RE: Renewable Energy projects that also include bio power and hydro; Source: MNRE
