India wasted 11% of solar power during record summer demand this year

India’s national grid wasted about 11% of its solar power during the hottest months of the year, even as air-conditioning use sent electricity demand soaring to record levels.

The grid failed to absorb more than 8 billion kilowatt-hours of solar from April to June, according to Deputy Minister for Renewable Energy and Power Shripad Yesso Naik. That compares with the 63 billion kilowatt-hours that actually reached the grid during the period. Peak curtailment occurred in May, when scorching heat sent electricity use to new all-time highs.

The curtailments were ordered to ensure “reliable and secure operation of the grid,” Naik said in a written reply to a lawmaker’s questions in parliament. In India, curtailment can involve either temporarily halting or under-utilizing commissioned projects or keeping completed projects awaiting grid connectivity offline.


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Power transmission networks globally have failed to keep pace with the rapid expansion of solar and wind fleets, creating periods of excess electricity that force grids to shut down some generators to protect equipment and prevent blackouts. The curtailments are hurting renewable developer earnings and threatening to slow the global energy transition.

To accommodate more solar during the day, the government is pushing coal-fired power plants to operate flexibly — ramping down during the day and ramping back up after sunset to meet the evening demand.

India is aiming for nearly 70% expansion in clean power capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030, a goal that would need to be backed by timely connectivity to the grid network.

The country has also prepared a 7.93 trillion-rupee ($83 billion) road map for creating grid capacity for 900 gigawatts of clean power by 2036, exceeding the estimated requirement by that time.