Progress of wind and solar installation remained slow in May, with only 12 MW of wind capacity and 176 MW of solar capacity added as developers resumed work on projects after curbs imposed during the lockdown were eased.
Although construction activity was allowed to resume in April, the lack of labor, difficulty in movement of goods and delays in site inspections and approvals held up progress.
Wind energy installation was abysmal because they have a more complex supply chain than solar projects. There are more critical parts, scattered manufacturing units and the need for specialized site personnel thus making it’s inevitable that wind will take slightly longer to recover.
Almost no renewable energy capacity was added in April, according to Bridge To India consultancy firm.
If there are no further Covid-19-related setbacks, a steady improvement in construction activity is expected over the second half of the year. But it will take another three or four months before we can return to normal levels.
Developers have not reduced their project pipelines but procuring spare parts is likely to be an issue. Say, if 12 hours was what it took to get spares, with Covid, the transportation time has gone up. District-to-district and state-to-state movement is not easy.
Reference- livemint, Economic Times, The Financial Express