India Overtakes Germany, Becomes Third Largest Generator Of Wind And Solar Power
India has emerged to the top by surpassing Germany as the third-largest generator of electricity from solar and wind power sources in 2024. As per the sixth edition of global energy think tank Ember’s Global Electricity Review, wind and solar together generated 15 per cent of global electricity last year. India’s share had stood at 10 per cent.
“In comparison, India generated 22 per cent of its electricity from clean sources in 2024, with hydropower as the single largest contributor at 8 per cent of the mix, while wind and solar made up 10%,” the report noted.
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India’s production of wind and solar energy had increased rapidly, nearly doubling in the five years leading to 2024. However, it still remains below the global average, and this highlights its potential for further expansion.
The report also added that the world had reached a milestone as all-carbon sources such as renewables and nuclear power provided 40.9 per cent of the world’s electricity generation in 2024, passing the 40 per cent mark for the first time since the 1940s.
The report has noted that solar was the main driver of overall clean growth globally, in which solar is the largest source of new power for the third year running. And this is visible as the global solar generation had doubled in three years to reach a share of 6.9 per cent in 2024.
India too had witnessed a rapid growth in solar power. Solar contributed 7 per cent of the country’s electricity in 2024, the generation doubling since 2021.
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India, in total, had added 24 gigawatts of solar capacity in 2024, more than twice the addition in 2023, becoming the third-largest market after China and the US.
Neshwin Rodrigues, senior energy analyst, Ember, said that India had made significant progress with the rapid adoption of renewables. However, the key challenge the country now faces is to ensure that its clean generation grows fast enough to meet the rising demand.
