𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺

In early 2025, almost everybody was gaga about India achieving 100 GW of solar capacity and meeting its 2030 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) target of 50% non-fossil fuel capacity in 2025.

Now, almost every stakeholder is flooding editorials and op-eds with bottlenecks India’s renewable energy sector is facing. These bottlenecks were starkly visible. They had been in the making since the target of solar capacity kept on track. However, transmission and storage kept lagging.

We have negligible storage today, and it’s better that we don’t talk about transmission. Check my post on NEP progress and Grid

Electricity systems are built with long-term planning and cannot be corrected overnight. This is also to reflect that the authorities (CEA) did adequate planning, but one part of the system kept pace (solar capacity), and the other two didn’t (transmission and storage). 

So, why do we need situations like 2025 and reactive policy measures? The signs were visible since early 2022-23, when transmission systems were slowing. It would have been better to pause the new capacity for some time to bring sync to the system by strengthening grid infra and bringing adequate storage capacity.

Another point missed in most of the analysis is that India has added over 10 GW of thermal coal capacity in 2025, which easily nullifies any real gains in decarbonisation of the grid over time. Although, it’s a different story that the share of non-fossil fuels would be highest this year due to low thermal electricity generation.

Course Correction Needed

This highlights the urgent need for implementing flexibilisation of thermal power plants, which can help back down generation in order to allow variable renewable energy (VRE) sources to flow in the system at times of prolonged low demand, which can not be managed by 2-8 hrs of storage. 

And a last alternative to keep adding solar while adequate transmission and storage infrastructure comes online is to expedite rooftop solar (RTS) and off-grid solar, of course with storage. This is the only way to make electricity cheaper for the end-user and many other benefits to the entire electricity system. But it raises equity, accessibility and affordability issues.