Structural Gaps in India’s Energy Transition

Syllabus: GS3/ Energy and Infrastructure

Context

• India’s power grid has recently faced power shortages at night due to record electricity demand caused by early and intense heatwave conditions.

Recent Power Supply Disruptions in India

• Mismatch Between Demand and Supply: India recorded a peak electricity demand of around 256 GW, with a shortfall exceeding 4 GW during late-night hours.
• Forced and Partial Outages: Forced outages, caused by equipment failure, technical faults, or operational stress, increased sharply to around 21–26 GW. 
  • The planned maintenance outages remained limited to about 3 GW.
• Market Scenario: Spot electricity prices in the Day Ahead Market surged to the regulatory cap of ₹10 per unit during night hours.
  • Prices dropped sharply to around ₹1.5 per unit during the daytime, indicating surplus solar power availability.

Why Is the Power Grid Under Stress at Night?

• Sharp Decline in Solar Generation After Sunset: India has developed nearly 150 GW of solar capacity, which significantly supports daytime electricity demand.
  • Solar generation falls to negligible levels after sunset, creating a sudden supply gap during evening and night hours.
  • This phenomenon leads to a steep transition in the supply curve, often referred to as the “solar cliff”.
• Sustained High Demand During Night Hours: Electricity demand remains elevated during night hours due to continued use of cooling appliances.
  • The persistence of heat during nighttime further prevents any meaningful decline in electricity demand.
• Dependence on Thermal Power: During non-solar hours the grid relies heavily on coal-based thermal power, and is expected to compensate for the absence of solar energy.
• Limited Flexibility of Other Sources: Hydropower and gas-based plants provide flexibility but are constrained by water availability and high fuel costs.
  • Wind energy remains intermittent and cannot be relied upon for consistent night-time supply.

Structural Gaps in India’s Power Sector

• India’s energy transition is creating a mismatch between variable renewable supply and inflexible conventional backup.
• The grid lacks adequate energy storage systems to store excess daytime solar power for night-time use.
• Thermal power plants face operational stress due to ageing infrastructure and climate-induced challenges.
• Demand-side management remains limited, especially in regulating peak residential consumption.

Government Initiatives to Improve Clean Energy Utilisation

• Renewable Energy Hybrid Policy: Encourages setting up of projects that combine solar and wind energy in the same location to increase capacity utilisation and reliability.
• Green Energy Corridor (GEC): Aims to strengthen the transmission infrastructure to evacuate renewable energy efficiently from generation points to demand centres.
• Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) Scheme: Implemented by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, the scheme promotes energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries, thereby reducing overall electricity demand.

Way Ahead

• India must accelerate the deployment of battery energy storage systems and pumped hydro storage to store surplus daytime solar power and ensure reliable supply during night hours.
• There is a need to modernise and upgrade ageing thermal power plants to improve efficiency, reduce forced outages, and enhance operational flexibility.
• Greater investment in grid flexibility, including flexible generation, ancillary services, and real-time balancing mechanisms, is essential to manage variability in renewable energy.
• Strengthening forecasting capabilities and digital grid management systems will help anticipate demand-supply gaps and improve system reliability.

Source: IE