Half of World's 10 Largest Solar Parks Under Construction Currently Are in India

Since its big entry a decade ago, China has led the global solar energy industry. A massive manufacturing sector that has driven down costs, coupled with supportive government policies, have helped it commission multiple large-scale projects and become the world’s largest producer of solar energy.

Meanwhile, neighbouring India has turned up at the party a little late – but is now racing ahead in terms of big projects. Half of the world’s 10 largest solar parks under construction currently are in India, says a report by US-based think tank, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

China still has the largest ones. Its 1,547-MW Tengger Desert Solar Park, for instance, is the world’s biggest. But the parks that India is building are larger. For instance, by early 2019, the work on a 2,225-MW facility at Bhadla, Rajasthan, is expected to be completed. A third of this plant is already operational. Also, on the cards is a massive 5,000-MW solar park along the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat. Even for rooftop solar installation, India has gone big. A 19-MW system installed on an 82-acre campus of the RSSB Educational and Environmental Society in Amritsar, Punjab, is currently the world’s largest.

World’s 10 largest solar parks currently under construction

“India has pioneered the concept of the ultra mega power plant (UMPP) in a single solar industrial park. This approach has been instrumental in driving economies of scale and procuring global capital flows…over the last two years with an immediate boon in the form of a halving of solar tariffs to a record low of Rs. 2.44 (per unit),” the IEEFA report said.

The country is targeting an installed capacity of 100,000-MW of solar power by 2022, up from around 21,000-MW now. It is also chasing an overall renewable energy capacity of 175,000-MW by that year.