US project developers SunEdison and First Solar have announced separate plans to develop 20 gigawatts of wind and solar farms in India, and are amongst companies that have committed to develop 266GW of renewable energy projects in the country.
The two companies announced separate plans to set up solar and wind energy capacity in India by 2022 at the Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet and Expo that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. SunEdison said it will develop 15,200 megawatts of solar and wind power capacity by 2022, while First Solar is planning 5,000MW by 2019.
India is planning to raise renewable energy contribution to the country’s energy mix from the current 6% to 15% by 2027. Solar is the major focus, with the target revised from 20GW to 100GW by 2020.
During the convention, 293 companies have committed to developing clean energy projects with 266GW of capacity in the next five years. State-owned NTPC and ReNew Power are amongst the other companies to have committed to new capacity.
Modi has made clean energy as one of the priority areas of his government, and has won backing from US President Barack Obama during a recent meeting. Obama gave his commitment to help with financial support during his visit to India. India needs an investment of US$200 billion to increase its clean energy goals.
Modi is targeting 100GW of installed solar capacity by 2022, which is 33 times more than the current installed capacity. India currently has about 250GW of operating renewable capacity.