Building flexibility is central to accommodating increasing solar

India needs to build system flexibility to absorb high and variable renewable generation, moving beyond simple capacity additions. The report identifies three primary levers: improving the flexibility of the coal fleet by lowering minimum technical limits, scaling energy storage (BESS and pumped hydro), and accelerating demand-side flexibility through smart meter deployment and attractive time-of-day tariffs.

• India's coal fleet, which provided 74.8% of total electricity generation in 2024, must shift from baseload supply to providing flexibility. The Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC 2023) has formalised a minimum technical limit (MTL) of 55% for grid-connected coal plants, with a further target to reach a sustained MTL of 40% by December 2030 through technological interventions.
• Energy storage is expanding in India, with 7.2 GW of operational pumped hydro and 0.5 GWh of battery energy storage (BESS) capacity. NTPC is implementing one of the world's largest battery tenders, covering 1.7 GW across 11 coal plants, consisting of 300 MW of four-hour systems (1,200 MWh) and 1,400 MW of two-hour systems (2,800 MWh).
• Demand-side flexibility in India is hindered by slow infrastructure rollout; as of December 2025, only 19% of sanctioned smart consumer meters under the Reforms-Based and Result-Linked scheme have been installed. While time-of-day (ToD) tariffs exist for most categories, meaningful load shifting by commercial and industrial consumers depends on the adequacy of the tariff differential.

APA

Ember (2026). Building flexibility is central to accommodating increasing solar. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/building-flexibility-is-central-to-accommodating-increasing-solar/

Chicago

Ember. Building flexibility is central to accommodating increasing solar. 2026. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/building-flexibility-is-central-to-accommodating-increasing-solar/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Building flexibility is central to accommodating increasing solar |date=27 January 2026 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/building-flexibility-is-central-to-accommodating-increasing-solar/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2026building, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Building flexibility is central to accommodating increasing solar}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2026}, month = jan, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/building-flexibility-is-central-to-accommodating-increasing-solar/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }