Structural and operational factors of renewable energy curtailment in India in 2025

In 2025, India's renewable energy curtailment was primarily driven by transmission infrastructure mismatches and system-wide emergency conditions managed via Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Services (TRAS). While non-fossil fuel capacity reached 266.7 GW by December 2025, the gap between rapid project deployment and slower transmission construction led to significant energy loss, particularly for projects under temporary general network access (T-GNA). Emergency TRAS-down events, often triggered by demand forecasting errors, also caused notable curtailment, such as 93.3 GWh of solar output on 12 October 2025.

• By December 2025, India's non-fossil fuel-based capacity reached 266.7 GW, with solar power accounting for 135.8 GW (26% of total installed capacity) and non-fossil sources overall representing 52%.
• The National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) uses Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Services (TRAS) as a third line of defence to maintain grid stability, often triggering emergency TRAS-down for renewable generators when demand deviates from forecasts. For ISTS-connected solar projects, this resulted in curtailments of approximately 45 GWh on 25 May 2025 and 93.3 GWh on 12 October 2025.
• The most significant structural cause of curtailment is the mismatch between the fast deployment of renewable energy and the slower timeline for transmission planning and construction. Projects with temporary general network access (T-GNA) are particularly vulnerable; in December 2025, approximately 4 GW of solar capacity under T-GNA faced complete curtailment on some days between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• The Indian government is attempting to mitigate transmission risks through the Green Energy Corridor initiative and CERC amendments that introduce time-segmented access for 'solar-hours' and 'non-solar-hours' to optimize corridor use between solar, wind, and storage.

APA

Ember (2026). Structural and operational factors of renewable energy curtailment in India in 2025. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/structural-and-operational-factors-of-renewable-energy-curtailment-in-india-in-2025/

Chicago

Ember. Structural and operational factors of renewable energy curtailment in India in 2025. 2026. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/structural-and-operational-factors-of-renewable-energy-curtailment-in-india-in-2025/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Structural and operational factors of renewable energy curtailment in India in 2025 |date=27 January 2026 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/structural-and-operational-factors-of-renewable-energy-curtailment-in-india-in-2025/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2026structural, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Structural and operational factors of renewable energy curtailment in India in 2025}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2026}, month = jan, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/structural-and-operational-factors-of-renewable-energy-curtailment-in-india-in-2025/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }