THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
As India accelerates its transition towards clean energy -- with renewable electricity generation rising 24 per cent while emissions increased by just 0.9 per cent -- Goa continues to rely almost entirely on electricity imported from the national grid, highlighting the state's limited contribution to its own power needs despite a rapid expansion in rooftop solar.
While the country has emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing renewable energy markets, Goa's installed renewable energy capacity stands at just 73.43 MW against a peak electricity demand of around 750 MW, leaving the state heavily dependent on power generated outside its borders.
The dependence comes at a significant financial cost. As per the data, State government will spend Rs 6,805.6 crore on purchasing electricity over the next three financial years, underlining the absence of meaningful internal power generation despite growing electricity demand.
The expenditure on power purchases is projected to rise steadily from Rs 2,178.95 crore in 2026-27 to Rs 2,266.39 crore in 2027-28 and Rs 2,366.26 crore in 2028-29.
More than 70 per cent of this expenditure will be towards procuring electricity from central generating stations, while the remainder will go towards renewable power purchases. Internal generation continues to account for only a negligible share of Goa's electricity supply.
The contrast is particularly striking as Goa has made visible progress in expanding renewable energy. Installed renewable capacity has increased to 73.43 MW, of which nearly 64 MW comes from rooftop solar systems. The figure is almost double what the state had a few years ago, reflecting growing public participation in solar adoption.
Goa has also achieved nearly half of its target of installing 150 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. However, experts say the pace of expansion will now have to accelerate substantially if the remaining capacity is to be added within the next four years.
The state's renewable energy basket, however, remains overwhelmingly dependent on solar. Besides rooftop installations, the State has only 1.94 MW of biogas and waste-to-energy capacity and a mere 0.05 MW of small hydro generation, exposing the lack of diversification in its clean-energy portfolio.
The limited renewable mix means that even though solar installations have grown rapidly, they have had little impact on reducing Goa's dependence on imported electricity.
Energy experts believe the next phase of the state's transition will require utility-scale solar parks, floating solar projects on reservoirs, battery storage systems and expansion of waste-to-energy projects if Goa is to improve energy security while reducing long-term expenditure on imported power.
