Developing a roadmap to a flexible, low‐carbon Indian electricity system

The report argues that flexibility needs in India's electricity system are growing faster than energy demand, particularly under high renewable energy scenarios. It finds that a balanced portfolio of demand-side flexibility, powerplant upgrades, and energy storage can reduce total system costs by 5% to 8% and carbon emissions by 8% to 12% compared to a base case. The analysis highlights regional disparities, noting that states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu face higher curtailment risks, and emphasizes the need for updated market designs, business models, and infrastructure to unlock these flexibility options.

• Flexibility requirements in India are increasing at a rate that exceeds the growth of energy demand, especially in scenarios with accelerated renewable energy deployment. In high renewable energy scenarios, several types of flexibility needs grow two to three times faster than electricity demand.
• A lack of additional flexibility resources could soon hinder the growth of the energy system and jeopardize India's progress in improving power quality and reducing involuntary load shedding.
• India possesses sufficient potential flexibility options across demand-side solutions, powerplant responsiveness, and storage to meet future needs, with daily balancing needs of approximately 870GWh/day potentially met by nearly 2,000GWh/day of available resources by 2030.
• Implementing a balanced portfolio of flexibility—combining demand, powerplant, and storage options—is more cost-effective than the current energy mix. This approach reduces total system costs by 5% under current renewable deployment rates and by 8% in high renewable energy scenarios, while lowering carbon emissions by 8% to 12% and reducing curtailment by 82% to 97%.
• Flexibility needs vary by region; states with high renewable energy penetration, such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, face greater challenges. Without interstate transfers and flexibility improvements, these states could see 15%-20% of renewable generation curtailed by 2030, compared to a national average of 6%.
• To achieve flexibility goals, India must evolve its electricity system across several dimensions, including data collection on consumer patterns, technology for cost-reducing storage, transmission infrastructure, new business models for monetising flexibility, and aligned incentives.

APA

Udetanshu, Khurana, S., & Nelson, D. (2020). Developing a roadmap to a flexible, low‐carbon Indian electricity system. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CPI-India-flexibility-25-August-2020-Executive-summary-1.pdf

Chicago

Udetanshu, Saarthak Khurana, and David Nelson. Developing a roadmap to a flexible, low‐carbon Indian electricity system. Climate Policy Initiative, 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CPI-India-flexibility-25-August-2020-Executive-summary-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Udetanshu |last2=Khurana |first2=Saarthak |last3=Nelson |first3=David |title=Developing a roadmap to a flexible, low‐carbon Indian electricity system |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=February 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CPI-India-flexibility-25-August-2020-Executive-summary-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{udetanshu2020developing, author = {Udetanshu and Khurana, Saarthak and Nelson, David}, title = {{Developing a roadmap to a flexible, low‐carbon Indian electricity system}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = feb, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CPI-India-flexibility-25-August-2020-Executive-summary-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }