PV Curtailment on the Rise in India

Why It Matters

Curtailment erodes the economic value of India’s renewable surge and forces continued reliance on expensive imported gas, undermining climate and energy‑security goals. Addressing the grid gap is essential for unlocking further clean‑energy investments and meeting the country’s emissions targets.

Key Takeaways

• 300 GWh of renewable power curtailed in India Q1 2026.
• Transmission constraints caused 178 GWh loss in the north, 122 GWh in the west.
• Only 80 % of annual transmission targets met over past five years.
• 3‑4 GW of two‑hour battery storage could capture most curtailment.
• Storage cost $0.07‑$0.08/kWh, below current peak power rates.

Pulse Analysis

India’s renewable sector is hitting a critical bottleneck as 300 GWh of clean electricity vanished in the first quarter of 2026 due to transmission constraints. The loss, equivalent to the daily consumption of roughly five million urban households, highlights a systemic mismatch: renewable capacity is expanding faster than the interstate transmission network can accommodate. Beyond the immediate waste of green power, the shortfall forces utilities to lean on imported natural gas, keeping spot prices high and curbing the economic advantage of domestic renewables.

The root cause lies in chronic under‑investment in grid infrastructure. Over the past five years, India has achieved only about 80 % of its annual transmission targets, and the current fiscal year’s ISTS goal of 25,146 circuit kilometres remains under‑delivered, with one in four major schemes delayed by at least a year. This lag threatens to postpone connectivity for roughly 20 GW of new renewable projects by four months or more, underscoring the need for a shift from generation‑led to co‑optimised planning that aligns new capacity with transmission roll‑out.

Ember’s analysis points to battery energy storage as the quickest remedy. Deploying 3‑4 GW of two‑hour storage at pooling stations could absorb most of the curtailed output, leveraging the 236 GW of plug‑and‑play BESS headroom already in place. At $0.07‑$0.08 per kWh, storage costs are below the $0.13 per kWh many states currently pay for peak power, making it a financially attractive bridge. Complementary regulatory steps—such as a government‑backed aggregator for temporary network access and treating BESS as a transmission asset with shared capacity payments—could unlock this potential and accelerate India’s clean‑energy transition.