India’s Renewable Energy Growth Hits Grid Bottleneck

India’s renewable energy sector is reaching a new stage of rapid expansion, but insufficient grid infrastructure is increasingly limiting how much clean power can actually be delivered to consumers.

Renewables Reach a New Milestone

According to a BBC report, renewable energy briefly supplied more than half of India’s peak electricity demand on a day in July.

India’s renewable energy capacity has grown from just 4 GW a decade ago to around 300 GW today, marking a major expansion of solar, wind and other clean energy sources. Coal, however, still supplies around 70% of the country’s electricity on average because thermal plants operate at higher utilization rates.

Transmission Capacity Lags Behind

The rapid growth in generation is creating pressure on India’s transmission network. Ember estimates that transmission constraints accounted for nearly two-thirds of renewable energy curtailment in the first quarter of 2026, with around 300 GWh of clean electricity curtailed.

Many renewable projects are concentrated in Gujarat and Rajasthan, far from major demand centers, making transmission capacity particularly important.

Storage Could Help, but Faces Challenges

Battery energy storage could help absorb excess renewable generation and shift electricity to periods of higher demand. However, storage deployment has been affected by higher battery and raw-material costs, geopolitical disruptions and financing pressures.

The growing gap between renewable generation and grid infrastructure is therefore becoming an important challenge as India works toward its 500 GW non-fossil power target by 2030.