Grid bottlenecks hamper inexperienced vitality enlargement | India Information
NEW DELHI: India’s speedy renewable vitality enlargement is operating right into a severe bottleneck, with delays in transmission infrastructure forcing large-scale curtailment of inexperienced energy.In line with Ember, an vitality think-tank, transmission constraints accounted for almost two-thirds of the 470 gigawatt-hours of renewable vitality curtailed in first quarter of 2026. The issue has develop into significantly acute in Rajasthan and Gujarat, which host the majority of India’s utility-scale photo voltaic and wind tasks. Of the nation’s complete put in energy technology capability of 543 GW, photo voltaic vitality accounts for 154 GW and wind, 56 GW.The mismatch between tempo of renewable vitality deployment and transmission readiness is rising as one of many greatest operational dangers for sector.“India’s renewable vitality curtailment arising from transmission constraints is starting to achieve materially vital ranges,” stated Duttatreya Das, vitality analyst at Ember. He stated the system would ultimately have to maneuver away from “generation-led transmission planning” in direction of a mannequin the place technology and transmission are deliberate collectively.An official from the ministry of latest and renewable vitality, acknowledging that curtailment was changing into a priority, stated govt was engaged on options. Massive-scale deployment of battery vitality storage techniques and grid-forming inverters can be essential for integrating renewable vitality into the grid. “We’re in common contact with energy ministry and Central Electrical energy Regulatory Fee for enhancement of transmission capability,” the official stated.As per Ember, India has achieved solely about 80% of its annual transmission targets over previous 5 years, resulting in a rising backlog. For FY27 alone, the requirement for added inter-state transmission capability has been estimated at over 61,000 circuit kilometres.The delays are pushed by right-of-way disputes, land acquisition hurdles, forest clearances and provide constraints for crucial high-voltage transmission gear, the report famous.
