Renewables Boost For India’s Sun-Kissed Andhra Pradesh

One of India’s largest renewables producers, the state of Andhra Pradesh, has now reached an installed renewable capacity of over 8GW (8,000 MW).

The largely rural state late last month confirmed wind energy accounted for 4,080 MW of installed capacity with PV close behind with 3,530 currently linked to the state grid.

The news was shared by the Andhra Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation (NREDCAP) on its website.

Looking forward, however, solar is the standout in as far as projections into 2020 / 2021 go, albeit with a mere 8.75 MW commissioned to date.

The state’s total installed solar capacity currently stands at around 3.6 GW with 1.3 GW yet to be brought fully online.

Andhra Pradesh is also looking to increase its smaller scale hydro and biomass capacity in the years ahead with just over 100 MW in hydro and 445 MW of biomass now making up part of the state’s energy mix.

A state of 49.3 million on India’s east coast known for its agricultural produce – and with 60% of the population involved in farming at some level – Andhra Pradesh is often held up as the region’s poster boy in mixing renewables in with more traditional forms of energy production.

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.