Goa leads the Renewable Energy Leaderboard in India

Even though India ranks high among the large power sector emitters in the world, few of the Indian states have admirably ranked higher in terms of share of wind and solar energy in total electricity generation globally out of a study based on nearly 80 countries. These countries accounted for 90% of the electricity demand but the carbon intensity in global electricity generation fell from around 440 gCO2 in 2021 to ~435 gCO2/kWh in 2022. India still generates 77% of its electricity from fossil fuels, with coal accounting for ~74%.

Also, check State Wise Solar State Rankings – India 2021 and India 2019-20.

In Goa, 77.95% of energy was generated from solar and wind energy, followed by 35.90% in Rajasthan, 29.70% in Gujarat, 27.5% in Karnataka, 22% in Tamil Nadu and 19% in Andhra Pradesh. Solar and wind energies comprised 9% of total power generation in India. Goa launched the solar rooftop online portal goasolar.in. Goa itself has an ambitious target to achieve 50% power by renewable energy by 2030 and 100% renewable energy by 2050. The Goa government will also explore the possibility of using abandoned mining pits to help to set up floating solar power units as well as reservoirs for pumped storage.

India still remains one of the largest emitters after China and the USA globally and has a high dependence on coal and other fossil fuels for its power needs. India’s electricity generation is 45% more carbon-intensive than the global average, however, Indian states achieved a higher clean energy share when compared to the global average of 12% in 2022. This 12% is also an improvement from 10% in 2021.

The global power sector needs a complete overhaul in the coming decades and all of it has to come from a faster pace of adoption and innovations from the renewable energy space. We need new policies including flexible generation sources and modernizing and digitizing the grid, to expedite the process of solar and wind energy adoption to cater to the growing increase in electricity demand. Though India has made significant progress in its electricity transition journey, the share of renewable energy in total generation also needs to increase at a faster rate.