India increases its wind power capacity by 25% in the first quarter of 2021

The 623 MW of wind energy additions in Q1 2021 were spread across Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Rajasthan.
Wind installations in India in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1 2021) were up by 25% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), with 623 MW added compared to 500 MW installed in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, year-over-year (YoY) installations saw a 230% jump, as only 189 MW was installed during the same period last year.

Cumulative installations at the end of Q1 2021 stood at 39.2 GW.

Installations during the quarter came from four states – Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.

Gujarat added the most wind capacity during the quarter, with 369.3 MW of installations. The state had a 22% market share and ranked second in cumulative wind capacity in the country with 8.5 GW of installations.

Tamil Nadu added 179 MW in Q1 2021 and had an overall market share of about 25%. It continued to be the leader in cumulative installations with about 9.6 GW of wind projects to date.

Meanwhile, Karnataka installed 69.8 MW of wind projects during the quarter and held a 13% market share. Its cumulative wind installations stood at 4.9 GW, with the state ranking fourth overall.

Maharashtra – ranked third in terms of cumulative installations – did not make any wind capacity additions during the quarter and had a wind portfolio of 5 GW in the state. It held a 13% market share.

Rajasthan also had no wind installations during the quarter but had an 11% share thanks to its cumulative installations at 4.3 GW, ranking fifth overall. Andhra Pradesh added 4.2 MW of installations in the quarter and had a 10% share. With cumulative installations of 4.09 GW, the state ranked sixth overall.

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and MEC Intelligence (MEC+) have jointly released the ‘India Wind Energy Market Outlook 2025’ report, which predicts that the world’s fourth-largest wind power market will add nearly 20.2 GW new wind power capacity between 2021-2025. The capacity addition would increase India’s existing 39.2 GW wind market by 50%, paving the way for growth after recent years of slowdown.

Last year the GWEC had raised doubts about India meeting its offshore and onshore wind energy targets by 2022.

Rahul Nair

Rahul is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Before entering the world of renewables, Rahul was head of the Gujarat bureau for The Quint. He has also worked for DNA Ahmedabad and Ahmedabad Mirror. Hailing from a banking and finance background, Rahul has also worked for JP Morgan Chase and State Bank of India. More articles from Rahul Nair.