New Delhi:
India became the third largest producer of electricity from wind and solar energy in 2024, overtook Germany, according to a new report published on Tuesday.
The sixth edition of the Global Energy Think Tank Amber’s Global Electricity Review said that Pawan and Solar generated 15 percent of the global electricity last year. India’s share was 10 percent.
The report said that low-carbon sources, including renewable and nuclear power, provided 40.9 percent of the world’s electricity in 2024. This is the first time a mark of 40 percent has been crossed since the 1940s.
In India, there was 22 percent of the power generation in clean sources. Hydropower contributed the highest at 8 percent, while Pawan and Solar calculated 10 percent simultaneously.
Globally, renewable energy led to an increase in clean power, adding record 858 terravat hours (TWH) in 2024 – 49 percent more than the previous record in 2022.
Solar was the biggest source of new electricity for the third straight year, adding 474 TWH in 2024. It was also the fastest growing power source for the 20th consecutive year.
In just three years, global solar energy production doubled to 6.9 percent of the electrical mixture.
India also saw a rapid growth in solar energy. In 2024, Solar contributed 7 percent of the country’s electricity, double the generation since 2021.
India added 24 GW (GW) of solar capacity in 2024, more than doubled in 2023, became the third largest market after China and the US.
It recorded the fourth largest growth in the solar generation globally, adding 20 Twhh.
“Solar energy has become the engine of global energy infection,” said the managing director of Phil McDonald, Amber. “Joined with battery storage, solar is set as an invincible force. As the fastest growing and biggest source of new electricity, it is important in meeting the world’s increasing demand for electricity.” The report released on Tuesday with an open dataset on power generation in 2024 includes 88 countries which are 93 percent of the global power demand and contain historical data for 215 countries.
Aditya Lola, director of Amber’s Asia Program, said that clean energy infection in Asia is intensifying, leading to a record increase in solar and other renewable.
“As the demand for electricity in the entire region increases, a strong clean energy market is important for the continuous expansion of clean power. This will not only strengthen energy security and economic flexibility, but will also help emerging countries reach the benefits of a new clean energy market economy.” Amber’s senior energy analyst Neshwin Rodrigues said that India has made significant progress in adopting renewal, but now face a major challenge: ensuring that its clean generation grows sufficiently to meet rapidly growing demand.
Calling India a “solar superpower”, in February, the United Nations head of climate change Simon Stiel said that a thorough embracing global clean energy boom would accelerate India’s economic growth.
As part of its climate commitments or nDCs at the national level (NDCs) presented to UNFCCC in 2022, India aims to obtain 50 percent of its established electrical power capacity from non-pilla fuel sources by 2030.
In 2021, the country also announced the target of achieving 500 GW non-Givash fuel capacity by 2030.
While this goal was not officially involved in the updated NDC of India, it has become a major guide reference in the National Energy Planning documents including the 14th National Power Scheme. Amber’s report in February said that India will fail to deploy 500 GW renewable energy capacity by 2030, if there is no 20 percent increase annually from the current levels. PTI GVS Tir Tir
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