Open access solar capacity addition falls 3.6% to 712 MW in April-June: Mercom report

India's open access solar capacity declined 3.6% in Q2, but q-o-q capacity addition was 24% higher. 1.3GW installed in Jan-Jun, 18% lower than prior year. Gujarat led with 46% of 712MW added, Karnataka 34%, Maharashtra 13%, Tamil Nadu 10%. Climate change mitigation & decarbonisation key drivers for large corp green power procurement.

The country recorded a 3.6% decline in new installations of open access solar capacity to 712 megawatt (MW) in the June quarter, according to a report by Mercom India.

However, on a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis, the capacity addition was 24% higher than the 577 MW in the January-March quarter, the report said.

Open access enables consumers with more than 100 kW sanctioned load to buy cheaper power from the open market.

In the January-June period, India added 1.3 GW of open access solar capacity, down almost 18% compared with 1.6 GW installed in the year-earlier period.

"In the period under review, the green energy open access regulation has been a major enabler for increased solar capacity addition under open access, even though lack of uniform rules in States was a challenge.

"Hybrid power projects with a combination of solar, wind, and even energy storage are proving to be sound investments for corporates," Mercom India Managing Director Priya Sanjay said.

As of June 2023, the country's cumulative installed open access solar capacity was 9.8 GW.