Beyond Capacity: Unlocking the Full Potential of India’s Clean Energy

To get a clearer picture of India’s energy vulnerability, it is important to not just look at how much oil and gas it imports, but how efficiently it uses the clean power it already produces. As geopolitical tensions rise in West Asia, India finds itself in a paradox — record renewable capacity on one hand, and wasted solar power on the other. Even as India raises its climate ambition under its newly released Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 3.0 — with higher clean energy and emissions reduction targets — the challenge is no longer just building capacity, but using it effectively. 

The country has crossed a major milestone, with over half its installed power capacity coming from non-fossil sources. Yet its energy system remains deeply dependent on imports, exposing a structural weakness between what it can generate and what it actually uses.

At a moment when global fuel supplies are increasingly uncertain, this mismatch has real consequences. India’s renewable expansion has outpaced the systems needed to use that power. Bridging this gap could unlock new pathways—such as electric cooking—that turn surplus renewable energy into a direct substitute for imported fuels. Experts say this will require urgent improvements in grid flexibility and a rapid scale-up of energy storage.

India achieves renewable milestone, but utilisation challenges remain

India today has a total installed power capacity of 520 GW, with more than 265 GW coming from non-fossil fuel alone. It has an ambitious target of building 500 GW non fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030. According to the recent Energy Adequacy Plan of Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the non-fossil fuel sources are set to account for nearly 70% of India’s total installed power capacity by 2035-36.  

With the addition of a record 44.5 renewable power capacity in 2025 — out of which 38 GW was solar power — today the total installed solar power of India is more than 140 GW. Still, curtailment of clean energy is emerging as a major issue. According to a recent report by energy research think tank Ember, India had to curtail 2.3 TWh of solar energy in just a few months (between May and November of 2025).   

The report says this much energy was enough to meet the demand of as many as 400,000 households for one whole year. It also means that India missed 2.11 million tonnes of CO2 emissions due to this curtailment. Experts say amid growing geopolitical volatility, India cannot afford to leave renewable energy untapped—it must be leveraged decisively to secure the country’s energy future.

Reasons Behind the Renewable curtailment

There are three main reasons behind the renewable power curtailment.

- Weak daytime demand
- Operational constraints
- Limited flexibility of coal plants

To understand this one must look at the paradox between power demand and solar energy production in India. Although the sun shines brightest during the day from 10am to 4pm, peak power demand occurs at night when people turn on the electricity in their homes and use heavy appliances such as air conditioners. The demand from residential consumers is low during the daytime and industrial demand alone isn’t often enough to absorb the large volume of solar electricity supplied to the grid.  

Grid operators, therefore, cut back solar generation to maintain stability, since coal plants must keep running at a minimum level to meet the evening demand surge when solar is unavailable.  

"Coal power plants are inherently designed for steady baseload operation. When solar generation surges in the afternoon, many coal units cannot reduce their output below the technical minimum to still remain operational for evening demand. In such situations, grid operators are left with no option but to curtail renewable power,” said Ruchita Shah, an energy analyst at Ember.

The absence of adequate transmission infrastructure adds to the problem. India’s solar plants are situated in resource rich states like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, but often the demand lies in other states. As transmission lines are either insufficient or congested, renewable power cannot be transported to other regions that may need it. The grid also needs to be modernised to deal with the fluctuations that wind and solar energy can have. 

 

Structural issues holding back renewable utilisation

 

a) Grid inflexibility and coal dependency

India’s electricity grid plays a central role in balancing supply and demand across the country. Grid India  operates through a hierarchy of control centres: the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) at the national level, five Regional Load Dispatch Centres (RLDCs) and several State Load Dispatch Centres (SLDCs). 

These institutions monitor electricity flows in real time, schedule power generation and ensure grid stability across the national transmission network. Their operations are governed under the Indian Electricity Grid Code, which requires load dispatch centres to forecast demand and schedule generation accordingly.

To plan electricity supply, system operators rely on demand forecasting carried out by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and state utilities. Forecasts estimate hourly demand patterns so that sufficient generation capacity remains online. However, the rapid growth of solar power is altering these demand patterns, creating sharp differences between daytime and evening demand.

A key constraint is the inflexibility of India’s thermal fleet and ageing grid infrastructure. According to the Central Electricity Authority, most coal-fired plants must operate at a minimum technical load of about 55% of capacity to maintain operational stability.

“The challenge is not a lack of renewable energy but the limited flexibility of the power system. With high solar penetration, the net load now changes very rapidly during the day. Coal plants cannot ramp down fast enough during high solar hours, leaving grid operators with little choice but to curtail renewable power,” said a Grid India system operator on condition of anonymity.

This creates a structural challenge. While coal accounts for less than half of India’s installed capacity, it still generates about 70% of electricity, forcing plants to keep running even during high solar output. The Ember report notes that this technical limit was a key reason for solar curtailment in 2025, as coal plants operating near minimum load left little room for additional renewable generation.

 

b) Transmission bottlenecks

India has ramped up its renewable capacity at a remarkable pace — almost 50 times in the past 12 years — but the development of transmission infrastructure has not kept pace with it. Therefore some solar plants faced complete curtailment during peak hours due to network congestion.

Meanwhile, renewable energy capacity has increased from around 18 GW in 2010 to over 250 GW by 2025. The mismatch is stark: solar capacity has grown at a compound annual growth rate(CAGR) of approximately 24% over the past five years, whereas transmission capacity trailed at just 6.5%. 

The CEA has recently outlined a robust and forward-looking transmission expansion plan to support the integration of over 900 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2035–36, with a built-in buffer to prevent renewable energy bottlenecks.

Some experts, however, remain sceptical about whether ambitious plans on paper will translate into real progress on the ground.

“There has been a persistent gap between announcements and execution. India launched the International Solar Alliance in 2015 and committed to net zero by 2070, but transmission planning and grid upgrades did not keep pace with renewable expansion. What are we achieving by creating solar parks and wind farms without the infrastructure to support them? Even now, with new plans from the CEA, the real question is how much will actually be implemented, given the track record,” said Sudiep Shrivastava, environmental activist and lawyer.

The fundamental reason for this slow growth in the transmission network is the gestation period. A solar project can be commissioned in 12–18 months, whereas a major transmission line requires 24–36 months. There are a few reasons behind this. 

Right of Way (RoW) & Land Issues: Linear projects like transmission lines require continuous strips of land, often leading to prolonged legal battles and compensation disputes with landowners.

Environmental Sensitivity: High-profile cases, such as protecting the Great Indian Bustard in Rajasthan and Gujarat, have required rerouting or undergrounding lines, adding cost and time.

Regional Concentration: RE is concentrated in the West and South, but demand is nationwide. Building inter-state "highways" for power (ISTS) involves complex multi-state coordination.

Currently, nearly 50 GW of RE capacity remains "stranded" or curtailed because the grid cannot yet absorb the surge during peak solar hours.

 

c) Lack of energy storage

The shortage of storage capacity is significant and one of factors leading to curtailment of renewable energy. India currently has only a small amount of battery storage deployed compared with the scale required to integrate renewables. Government planning estimates the country will need over 400 GWh of energy storage capacity by 2031–32 to support renewable expansion. 

Several factors explain the gap: high upfront costs, limited domestic battery manufacturing, uncertainty in market revenues for storage projects and slow development of supporting policies. These barriers have delayed large-scale deployment even as solar installations surge.

Clean cooking: Turning surplus renewable power into energy security

India remains significantly dependent on imported LPG and natural gas to meet its cooking and industrial energy needs. Currently, the country imports over 60% of its LPG consumption and nearly 50% of its natural gas requirements. The government’s ethanol blending programme has already reduced crude import dependence, with petrol now blended with around 20% ethanol in several regions. It is now emerging as a complementary pathway to strengthen India’s energy security in both cooking and transport.

Experts say if grid flexibility and transmission constraints are addressed, surplus renewable power can also be channelled into electric cooking (e-cooking) through induction stoves and other appliances. As the power mix becomes greener, cooking with electricity effectively replaces fossil fuels with domestic renewable energy — boosting India’s energy security.

Studies by organisations such as the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) suggest that scaling clean cooking solutions—including e-cooking and biogas—could substantially reduce India’s reliance on imported fuels and save up to ₹2.4 trillion in subsidy costs by 2050.

The potential is significant. Urban households can shift to electric cooking powered by rooftop solar or grid electricity, while rural areas can adopt biogas-based systems using agricultural and organic waste, reducing dependence on both LPG and firewood. Emerging options such as green hydrogen-based cooking, still at a nascent stage, could further expand India’s clean and domestically sourced energy basket in the long run. Energy experts argue that in the wake of recurring global energy disruptions, clean cooking is emerging as a critical pillar of energy security.

Purva Jain, Lead Energy Specialist at IEEFA, said e-cooking represents the future of clean cooking, describing it as safer, more affordable and energy efficient, while also strengthening long-term energy security. She noted that the current geopolitical crisis has once again exposed countries to price volatility and supply disruptions in fossil fuels such as oil, gas and LPG, and that transitioning to e-cooking could help shield India from these external shocks, while addressing the persistent connection–consumption gap in the sector.

“Despite over 115% coverage of LPG and PNG connections, nearly 38–40% of the population still relies on solid fuels,” she said, adding that scaling up e-cooking would not only improve energy access, but also align with India’s broader electrification pathway and long-term decarbonisation goals.

However, this transition depends on reliable electricity supply, affordable appliances and supportive policies. If India can fix its grid bottlenecks and better utilise daytime renewable power, clean cooking could become a powerful demand-side solution—simultaneously addressing renewable curtailment, import dependence and subsidy burden.

 

Solutions India Can Pursue

1. The land challenge: A silent bottleneck in India’s energy transition

Even as India accelerates renewable energy deployment, land acquisition is emerging as a critical and often under-discussed constraint. Large-scale solar projects require vast tracts of land, while transmission infrastructure depends on securing long, contiguous corridors to evacuate power. Delays in acquiring such land can stall both generation and grid expansion, directly contributing to renewable curtailment.

Legal and social complexities further complicate the process. Issues related to land ownership, compensation, community consent and regulatory clearances often lead to disputes and project delays. A recent analysis notes that land-related challenges—ranging from unclear titles to local opposition—continue to affect both renewable energy and transmission projects in India.

Energy expert Dr. Ajay Mathur — former Director General of the International Solar Alliance — points out that land has always been a difficult issue in India’s power sector, but the scale required for renewables makes it even more pressing. He emphasises that states must play a more proactive role by identifying suitable land pockets closer to demand centres, rather than leaving developers to negotiate fragmented land deals.

Typically, land for renewable projects is leased for long durations — often close to 30 years — but compensation and terms can vary widely depending on local dynamics and bargaining power. Dr. Mathur notes that, barring states like Gujarat, institutional support for land aggregation remains limited. He argues that clearer frameworks are needed, particularly on what happens after lease expiry, to reduce uncertainty and improve investor confidence.

Without addressing land constraints, India risks slowing down both renewable expansion and the infrastructure needed to support it. Shrivastava, however, says acquisition is doable with adequate planning. 

“Land acquisition for grid and transmission infrastructure should not be treated as an insurmountable challenge. The government routinely acquires land for projects of national importance like highways, railways and industrial projects—so why should grid expansion be any different? Even forest clearances for transmission lines are relatively less disruptive, as they do not require large-scale diversion of land. The real issue is not feasibility, but intent. With proactive planning and policy support, transmission development can be accelerated without the kind of delays we are seeing today,” Shrivastava told Carboncopy. 

2.  Making coal plants more flexible

As India plans to add 80 GW of new coal plants by 2031-32 to ensure reliability it is important that coal plants must operate at lower minimum loads and ramp faster so that more RE can be accommodated. A key technical intervention is retrofitting existing coal plants with equipment and control systems that allow them to operate at lower minimum loads and ramp faster. Upgrades may include improvements in boiler control systems, turbine operation and automation. According to studies conducted by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and international agencies, many Indian coal units can potentially reduce their minimum operating level from around 55% of capacity to 40% or lower with appropriate technical modifications. 

“As renewable energy, especially solar, continues to scale up, coal will need to shift toward a more flexible, supporting role, balancing variability rather than dominating supply. This transition is significant, but with the right retrofitting approaches, it is achievable. Energy storage and demand response will also play a crucial role in absorbing daytime renewable energy,” said Ruchita Shah.

However, retrofitting older plants can be costly. It is estimated that flexibility upgrades for coal plants can require significant investments, depending on plant age and technology. Therefore experts suggest that alongside technical upgrades, the government should also introduce flexibility incentives. These include compensation mechanisms for plants that provide ramping services or operate at lower loads to integrate renewable energy. Analysts argue that such market incentives are essential to encourage coal generators to support grid balancing as India’s renewable capacity continues to expand.

3. Pushing for Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy

India is also experimenting with Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy (FDRE) projects that combine solar, wind and battery storage to deliver electricity in a predictable manner, helping renewables compete with coal in providing round-the-clock power.

The study, Budgeting for Net Zero: Powering India’s Reliable Clean Energy Future by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), says FDRE projects can supply electricity according to demand profiles specified by discoms by combining solar, wind and energy storage. 

Sunil Mani, policy advisor at IISD says FDRE projects are not just a clean alternative—they are an increasingly competitive source of reliable power. 

“With thoughtful tender design and market reforms, India can tap into FDRE to meet rising electricity demand, cut long-term costs, and build a power system that is both resilient and future-ready,” Mani Said. 

But there are questions here as well. While FDRE projects aim to provide reliable renewable power, analysts warn that the oversizing of solar and wind capacity required to guarantee supply could generate large volumes of surplus electricity during daytime hours, potentially increasing renewable curtailment if the grid cannot absorb it.

Mani says some level of surplus generation is unavoidable in FDRE projects because additional renewable capacity is needed to ensure reliable supply despite the variability of solar and wind.

“The policy priority, therefore, should be to use this surplus effectively—by strengthening electricity markets, expanding transmission, scaling up storage and introducing clearer demand signals such as time-of-day tariffs. With these reforms, surplus power can be absorbed productively instead of being curtailed, improving both system efficiency and project viability,” he said.

4. Improving Battery Storage Deployment as Prices Fall

Battery storage is increasingly seen as a key solution for integrating large amounts of renewable energy into India’s grid. Batteries can store excess solar power generated during the day and release it during evening peak demand, reducing curtailment and improving grid reliability. Energy analysts estimate India will need around 60–97 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030–2032 to support its clean power targets. 

Encouragingly, the economics of storage are improving. Falling battery prices, combined with government incentives, are making large-scale storage projects more viable. India has introduced policies such as viability gap funding for battery energy storage systems and transmission charge waivers to accelerate deployment. 

Expanding storage can be achieved through several approaches: integrating batteries with solar and wind projects, developing stand-alone grid-scale storage systems and scaling pumped-hydro storage. Together, these measures can help shift renewable power to peak demand hours and allow the grid to utilise clean electricity more efficiently.

“The economics of storage have changed dramatically in recent years. Earlier, battery costs were a major constraint, but that is no longer the case. Today, when we design integrated renewable projects—combining solar, wind and battery storage—they are increasingly able to deliver reliable power at costs comparable to, and in many cases lower than, new coal-based generation. This is particularly evident in FDRE-type projects, where storage enables renewables to supply power during peak demand hours. As costs continue to fall, storage will play a central role in making clean energy not just sustainable, but also economically competitive,” said Dr Mathur.

5. Expanding transmission: The role of Green Energy Corridors

Another critical priority is strengthening transmission infrastructure through initiatives such as the Green Energy Corridor (GEC) programme. Without adequate transmission capacity, clean electricity cannot be transported efficiently — from resource-rich states to major demand centres elsewhere — leading to curtailment. 

The Government of India has already launched GEC projects to evacuate renewable power and integrate it into the national grid. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), these corridors are designed to facilitate large-scale renewable integration and reduce congestion. Further expansion of interstate transmission systems will be essential to move surplus solar power from western and southern regions to northern and eastern demand centres, especially as renewable capacity continues to grow rapidly.

6. Demand-side flexibility: Shifting consumption to solar hours

Another key solution lies in aligning electricity demand with renewable generation. Currently, solar power peaks during the day while demand peaks in the evening. This mismatch contributes significantly to curtailment.

Demand-side flexibility can help bridge this gap by encouraging consumers to shift electricity usage to daytime hours. One way to achieve this is “Time-of-day (ToD) tariffs”, where electricity is cheaper during solar-rich hours and more expensive during peak demand periods. Incentives for industrial load shifting, encouraging factories to operate energy-intensive processes during the day. Smart metering and demand response programmes, allowing utilities to dynamically manage consumption

India has already begun implementing ToD tariffs under regulatory frameworks promoted by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and supported by smart meter deployment programmes. Such measures can increase daytime demand, allowing more solar power to be absorbed without stressing the grid.

7. Strengthening power markets: Unlocking flexibility and value

A deeper and more efficient electricity market is essential for integrating high levels of renewable energy. Strengthening power markets means enabling electricity to be traded more freely across regions, allowing surplus renewable energy to find buyers in real time.

In India, this involves expanding short-term power markets, improving day-ahead and real-time market mechanisms, and allowing greater participation by renewable generators and storage providers. Platforms such as the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and regulatory reforms by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) are already moving in this direction.According to expert analyses, stronger markets provide price signals that encourage flexible generation, storage deployment and demand response, making the system more adaptable to renewable variability.

“Ultimately, investment will flow only if there is a clear path to returns. Storage and flexible resources depend on meaningful price signals—electricity needs to be cheaper when supply is abundant and priced higher during peak demand. That kind of market design is essential to unlock both demand-side response and private investment,” said Dr Mathur.