India’s Open Access Solar Capacity Grows to 91% to 596 MW in Jul-Sep: Report

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According to Mercom Research India, India’s open access solar capacity increased by 91 percent to 596 megawatts (MW) in the July-September period.

According to a report by the research company, India has added 312 MW solar open access capacity during the same period last year.

Open access to solar power is where a power producer creates a solar power station to supply green energy to consumers.

India’s open access solar market report Q3 2022 stated that India has added 1.9 gigawatts (GW), in the first nine months of 2022. This is a 96% increase over the 956 megawatts installed in January-September 2021.

The report states that as of September 2022 the total solar capacity in the open-access segment was more than 7 GW and that there are over 5 GW of projects in development or preconstruction.

“The open access route has seen a tremendous increase in corporate demand for solar energy. Without the price rise and supply constraints, the growth would have been even greater.

“The pipeline of projects that are to be commissioned has never been bigger and more impressive. Priya Sanjay, Managing Director, Mercom India stated that the majority of the demand has come from large corporations.

With a total solar access capacity of approximately 2.77 GW, Karnataka was the most populous state. Maharashtra (801MW) was second. 74% of total open access solar installations in the country were held by top five states.

A lack of awareness has led to a large untapped market for SMEs and MSMEs.