Analyzing India Solar Power Transmission Constraints and Grid Curtailment Challenges
| General Studies Paper III: Renewable Energy, Government Policies & Interventions |
Why in News?
Recently, India’s Solar Power Transmission Constraints forced curtailment of 8,133 GWh during April–June, highlighting inadequate grid infrastructure and transmission bottlenecks.
India’s Progress in Solar Power Transmission
- Record Expansion of Network: India’s power transmission network (220 kV and above) crossed 5 lakh circuit kilometres (ckm) in January 2026, representing 71.6% growth since April 2014. This has significantly strengthened the evacuation of solar power from renewable energy zones to demand centres.
- India’s transmission expansion has enabled the country’s solar capacity to rise to about 162.15 GW by June 2026, making India the third-largest producer of solar power globally.
- Increase in Grid Capacity: India has expanded transformation capacity to over 1,407 GVA, enabling the grid to handle higher renewable electricity flows. A stronger transmission backbone has improved grid stability and supported rapid solar power integration.
- Exponential Grid Capacity Target: The Ministry of Power released a landmark transmission blueprint aiming to build 1,37,500 circuit kilometers (ckm) of lines.
- This network requires a massive capital investment of ₹7.93 lakh crore to seamlessly support India’s target of over 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030.
- Green Energy Corridor Development: The Green Energy Corridor (GEC-I & II) is India’s flagship transmission programme for renewable energy. It covers 10 States and is designed to evacuate nearly 44 GW of renewable energy through dedicated transmission lines and substations.
- The government scaled up its flagship transmission program by planning Green Energy Corridor (GEC) Phases 3 and 4.
- Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS): India has rapidly expanded the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) to transfer solar electricity from surplus states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat to high-demand regions. The network is planned to integrate over 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030.
- Inter-Regional Transfer Capacity: Inter-regional transmission capacity stood at 120 GW in early 2026 and is planned to increase to 168 GW by 2032. This will enable seamless movement of large volumes of solar power.
- Energy Storage: Transmission development is increasingly supported by Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs). Around 47 GW of battery storage and 23 GW of pumped hydro storage are currently in different stages of development.
- Commercial players are implementing multi-location BESS projects to supply up to 14 hours of dispatchable evening power.
- Renewable Energy Zones (REZs): India is developing dedicated Renewable Energy Zones in high-resource regions like Khavda (Gujarat), Bhadla (Rajasthan) and other solar parks. Special high-capacity transmission corridors are being built to transport clean electricity.
- Transmission Investments: Significant investments are accelerating transmission development. In July 2026, an ₹8,500 crore interstate transmission project in Andhra Pradesh was awarded to support renewable energy and green hydrogen projects, strengthening India’s clean energy network.
- Regulatory Reforms: To resolve evacuation delays, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) operationalized the General Network Access (GNA) Regulations.
- This introduces Temporary GNA (T-GNA) and time-segmented solar hours to optimize existing transmission margins.
- Future-Ready Planning: Under the National Electricity Plan (Transmission) 2023–32, India plans to expand the 220 kV and above network from about 5.04 lakh ckm to 6.48 lakh ckm and increase transformation capacity to 2,345 GVA by 2031–32.
- High-Voltage Technologies: India is deploying 765 kV AC corridors, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) links and bi-directional transmission systems. These technologies reduce transmission losses and efficiently transport bulk solar power over long distances.
- Developers successfully commissioned over 2,300 ckm of high-capacity 765 kV transmission lines to strengthen the national grid backbone.
- Floating Solar and Agrivoltaics: India is scaling up floating solar and agrivoltaics to bypass land bottlenecks, using innovations like the Omkareshwar Floating Solar Park to cut water loss, boost energy output, and protect farm yields.
- The “dual-use” land policy promotes raising solar panels so crops can grow underneath, granting farmers a second income from electricity sales without sacrificing essential food production.
- Advanced AI-Driven Load Dispatching: To control severe grid fluctuations, developers are investing heavily in AI-enabled smart grid technologies. Artificial Intelligence tools deployed in high-solar states like Rajasthan drastically improve demand forecasting and real-time load balancing.
India’s Solar Power Transmission Constraints and Curtailment Challenges
- Unprecedented Solar Power: India curtailed 8,133 GWh of solar electricity during April–June 2026 because the grid could not absorb all available generation.
- This represents roughly 11% of generation, indicating high wastage despite record demand.
- Monthly curtailment reached 2,417 GWh (April), 3,235 GWh (May) and 2,481 GWh (June).
- Demand–Supply Timing Mismatch: Solar generation peaks during daytime, whereas electricity demand often rises during the evening.
- Limited deployment of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) reduces the grid’s ability to shift surplus daytime electricity for later use.
- Lithium-ion batteries currently lead the solar storage market, but they have limitations including safety concerns.
- Spatial Mismatch and Evacuation Bottlenecks: Solar assets are concentrated in Rajasthan and Gujarat, while demand centers are far away, requiring massive long-distance transmission.
- The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) notes that existing local lines often lack the evacuation capacity to handle peak generation, stranding substantial green energy.
- Execution Mismatch Risks: Solar projects take roughly 12-18 months to deploy, whereas interstate transmission lines need 24-36 months.
- This creates a mismatch that leaves completed projects, particularly in Rajasthan, unable to inject power.
- Baseload Inflexibility: Coal still accounts for over 50% of India’s capacity. These plants cannot efficiently ramp down below 55% capacity, leaving little room for variable solar input, especially during high-sunlight hours.
- Storage Gaps and Pricing Crashes: Lack of storage capacity creates a massive price disparity, with solar energy prices crashing to nearly ₹1.5 per unit during the day while night prices soar. India needs roughly 411 GWh of storage by 2032.
- Policy and Regulatory Uncertainty: Frequent changes in rules, taxes on imported parts, and shifting state laws make investors worried and confused.
- Slow power purchase agreements and uneven rules for renewable targets block smooth planning.
- Because of these mixed rules, about 40 to 50 gigawatts of approved solar energy projects remain stuck and delayed as of late 2025.
- Financial Stress on DISCOMs: State DISCOMs often struggle with financial losses, limiting their ability to pay for ancillary services, such as grid stabilization, which would help mitigate the need to curtail.
- India’s power distributors faced $75 billion in total losses by 2023 and owed over $9 billion in unpaid dues by March 2025.
- Rooftop Solar Integration Hurdles: The rapid expansion of rooftop solar (e.g., PM Surya Ghar) overwhelms low-voltage distribution grids that are not designed for reverse power flow, causing localized voltage issues.
- Environmental and Right-of-Way Delays: Transmission projects in Rajasthan face significant delays due to land acquisition and ecological concerns, such as protecting the Great Indian Bustard habitat.
- India recorded a 44% decline in solar installations in 2023, dropping to 7.5 GW from 13.4 GW in 2022, primarily driven by land acquisition hurdles.
- Technical Quality Vulnerabilities: Rapid renewable deployment increases grid instability. The CEA has identified risks regarding voltage fluctuations and requires urgent deployment of technologies like STATCOMs.
- Dependence on Imported Equipment: India relies heavily on foreign solar parts, mainly from China, which creates risks like supply delays and price swings.
- Even with government production plans, local factories still struggle because China controls over 90% of the world’s polysilicon and wafers.
- India lacks local production for basic items like silica sand and high-grade wafers, meaning local parts make up only 30% to 40% of an Indian-made module.
Reforms Needed to Unlock India’s Solar Energy Potential
- Scale Up Distributed Solar Systems: India should prioritise distributed renewable energy (DRE) through rooftop solar, village-level mini-grids and feeder-level generation.
- Local generation reduces transmission losses, lowers grid congestion and improves energy access in rural areas.
- Studies show Village Energy Plans (VEPs) can significantly improve project viability by matching solar supply with local demand.
- Promote Agrivoltaics (Agri-PV): Agrivoltaics allows simultaneous farming and solar generation on the same land.
- Recent studies estimate 47.5 million hectares of Indian cropland are technically suitable for Agri-PV, with the potential to generate around 12,775 TWh annually while protecting agricultural production and increasing farmer incomes.
- Strengthen PM-KUSUM 2.0: The proposed PM-KUSUM 2.0 should expand solar pumps, decentralised feeder solarisation and dedicated Agri-PV support.
- As of March 2026, over 10 lakh standalone solar pumps and 13 lakh grid-connected pumps had been solarised, but wider coverage is needed to reduce diesel use.
- Expand Rooftop Solar Adoption: India should simplify rooftop solar approvals through single-window digital systems, time-bound permissions and easier grid connectivity.
- Recent regulatory reforms removing technical feasibility checks for systems up to 10 kW demonstrate how administrative simplification can accelerate household adoption.
- Reform DISCOM Business Models: Distribution companies should shift from electricity sellers to grid service providers.
- Performance-linked incentives, timely subsidy payments and improved power procurement planning will encourage greater integration of decentralised solar.
- Encourage Hybrid Renewable Projects: Future projects should increasingly combine solar, wind and battery storage at the same site.
- Hybrid plants improve capacity utilisation, reduce intermittency, optimise transmission infrastructure and provide more reliable electricity.
- Develop Domestic Solar Supply Chains: India should strengthen manufacturing of polysilicon, wafers, cells, modules, inverters and storage systems.
- Stable implementation of ALMM and PLI policies will reduce import dependence while improving long-term energy security and industrial competitiveness.
- Increase Climate-Resilient Solar Infrastructure: Solar parks should incorporate heat-resistant modules, improved cooling technologies, water-efficient cleaning systems and climate-resilient designs to maintain high performance under extreme weather conditions.
- Expand International Green Financing: India should mobilise larger investments through multilateral development banks, sovereign green bonds and blended finance.
- Recently, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved an US$850 million programme supporting the second phase of India’s affordable rooftop solar expansion.
- Adopt Integrated Energy Planning: India needs integrated planning linking land use, water resources, agriculture, transmission, storage, manufacturing and power markets.
- Such a whole-of-government approach will maximise solar deployment and strengthen India’s progress towards the 500 GW non-fossil capacity target by 2030.
Government Initiatives Driving India’s Solar Energy Growth
- National Solar Mission (2010): Launched in 2010 under NAPCC. India expanded solar capacity from about 17 MW to over 150 GW by 2026, achieving one of the world’s fastest solar growth rates.
- Solar Park Scheme (2014): Launched in 2014 to develop plug-and-play solar parks. More than 50 Solar Parks have been sanctioned with a planned capacity exceeding 39 GW.
- Green Energy Corridor (2015): Launched in 2015 to evacuate renewable energy through dedicated transmission infrastructure. It has significantly strengthened renewable grid integration.
- Grid-Connected Rooftop Solar Programme Phase-II (2019): Launched in 2019. Targets 40 GW rooftop solar capacity through residential subsidies and DISCOM incentives.
- PM-KUSUM Scheme (2019): Launched in 2019. Around 10 lakh standalone solar pumps and 13 lakh grid-connected agricultural pumps have been solarised.
- Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for High-Efficiency Solar PV Modules (2021): Launched in 2021. It has created substantial domestic manufacturing capacity for integrated solar PV modules.
- National Green Hydrogen Mission (2023): Launched in 2023. Enabled renewable-energy banking, ISTS charge waivers and development of Green Hydrogen Hubs powered by solar energy.
- PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (2024): Launched in 2024. More than 28 lakh households have been solarised, with ₹16,000+ crore in subsidies released, rapidly expanding rooftop solar.
- Renewable Energy Implementation through ULMM (2024): Launched in 2024. The Unified Lending Mechanism simplified rooftop solar financing, increasing consumer participation and faster project execution.
- Solar PV Manufacturing Ecosystem Initiative (2024): Launched in 2024 through expanded PLI support. India has rapidly increased domestic module and cell manufacturing capacity.
- Model Solar Village Programme (2023): Launched in 2023. Promotes one Model Solar Village in every district, encouraging decentralised renewable energy adoption nationwide.
- International Solar Alliance (2015): Co-founded by India in 2015. Membership has expanded to over 120 countries, making India a global leader in solar cooperation and clean energy diplomacy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
1. Why did India hold back 8,133 GWh of solar power?
Due to transmission constraints, grid congestion and inadequate evacuation infrastructure during the April–June 2026 quarter.
2. What are transmission constraints in the power sector?
There are limitations in transmission lines and substations preventing electricity from reaching consumers efficiently.
3. How do transmission bottlenecks affect renewable energy generation?
They cause renewable energy curtailment, reduce plant utilisation and delay clean electricity delivery to consumers.
4. Which regions were most affected by solar power curtailment?
Rajasthan and Gujarat, India’s largest solar-producing states, experienced the highest transmission congestion.
5. What steps is the government taking to strengthen transmission infrastructure?
Expanding Green Energy Corridors, ISTS, smart grids, HVDC lines and battery energy storage systems.
6. How does solar power curtailment impact India’s clean energy targets?
It slows progress towards 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030 by reducing effective renewable energy utilisation.
Disclaimer: Information in this article is based on official announcements and public records. Regulations and implementation details may evolve over time.