India has set another renewable energy record.
On two consecutive days this month, July 13 and July 14, solar and wind energy, together, crossed the 100 gigawatt (GW) threshold for the first time ever in the overall power supply share of the country. In addition, their combined share amounted to 42.79% of the total power supply, the highest percentage ever recorded.
On July 13, India’s instantaneous ground-mounted solar and wind energy reached an all-time high of 103.7 GW at 12:05 hours, contributing its highest percentage at 42.79% of the national grid’s total electricity supply at that instant. On July 12, wind power had crossed 36.6 GW in the evening hours; a highest ever statistic. On July 14, solar and wind generation and share was on the same scale as July 13.
Steady increase
During summer this year, heat waves and cooling-led demand spikes, combined with the increase in electric equipment ownership, pushed India’s electricity demand to an all-time high of 270 GW twice. But with the increasing demand, solar and wind contributed more every year, which acted as a cushion. On April 25, when India’s electricity demand touched the highest ever demand of 270 GW, solar contributed 57 GW during peak demand hours and 81 GW at midday, its highest contributions in India.
“This achievement reflects years of investment in renewable energy, transmission infrastructure, forecasting and grid operations. As India moves toward its long-term energy transition goals, the next phase will focus on accelerating energy storage, enhancing grid flexibility, expanding transmission networks, and developing innovative electricity market mechanisms that enable even higher shares of clean power,” said Subrahmanyam Pulipaka, CEO, National Solar Energy Federation of India.
“India is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s leading examples of how a large, fast-growing economy can pursue energy security, affordability, and decarbonization simultaneously. Milestones such as these reinforce confidence that India’s clean energy transition is not only ambitious but increasingly becoming a global benchmark,” Pulipaka added.
Watershed year
Since April this year, the share of renewables in India has been in the range of 35-42%. When hydro and nuclear energy are added to solar and wind, the share of non-fossil fuel is estimated at nearly 50% of the total supply.
“This is a watershed year for renewable energy in India. The country’s grid has not only absorbed more than 100 GW of RE (renewable energy) but has remained incident-immune. RE is now finally elbowing into the share of conventional sources in the energy supply pie, and it will only increase every year as installations rise and more states procure RE for meeting their incremental demand,” said Shreya Jai, energy lead, Climate Trends, a global environment research agency. To The Plurals .
Jai added: “The need for enhancing energy storage is more important than ever as it will ensure round the clock RE and increase its share in the energy economy of the country.”
Urgent priorities
“CEEW research shows that the next frontier will be to scale flexible energy storage, co-located with large-scale and distributed renewable energy systems, expand reserves by enabling state-owned fleets to operate flexibly and enable new market mechanisms for diverse sets of grid stability services,” said Disha Aggarwal, fellow, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), an India-based policy institute.
“These interventions will help states take advantage of low-cost renewables to meet not just day-time demand but also the rising evening peaks,” she added.
Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director, Sustainable Industrialization and Renewable Energy Unit, Centre for Science and Environment, pointed at the same requirements. “This is a clear signal that as long as the policy takes care of the grid’s operational challenges, the time will come when India will start meeting the majority of its daily power demand with renewables. Storage is an upcoming area where policy focus is necessary for the country alongside planning around the concept of clean energy waste circularity,” said Yadav.
Storage key
Neshwin Rodrigues, senior energy analyst, Asia at Ember, greeted the milestone, but highlighted the need for storage. “India crossing 100 GW of instantaneous wind and utility-scale solar generation marks a structural shift in its power system… But this milestone also highlights the next challenge. India now needs faster deployment of storage, transmission and system flexibility to ensure that growing volumes of low-cost renewable electricity are not curtailed,” said Rodrigues.