India’s Power Demand Is Surging, but some Solar Energy Is Going to Waste
Government data and Ember research said unused solar electricity could have powered about 10 million homes as heat lifted demand.
- In the last 15 months, India curtailed nearly 11 terawatt-hours of solar generation, enough electricity to power about 10 million homes, even as extreme heat and poor monsoon rains drove up demand for power.
- India possesses more than 300 gigawatts of clean power capacity, yet research by energy think tank Ember found the country achieved only about 80% of its annual transmission construction targets over the past five years.
- The western states of Gujarat and Rajasthan account for nearly 50% of India's solar capacity, creating concentrated grid pressure; coal units cannot ramp down quickly when solar generation surges in the afternoon.
- Vinay Pabba, CEO of Hyderabad-based renewable energy company Vibrant Energy, said making thermal power plants flexible "is like asking an elephant to dance," noting curtailment results in losses for clean power developers.
- Policymakers expect India's storage needs to reach about 74 gigawatts by 2032, and research from the University of California, Berkeley found battery-backed renewable power can provide reliable electricity cheaper than new coal-fired plants.
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21 Articles
India's power demand is surging, but some solar energy is going t
FILE - Workers walk through a swamp to install electric transmission towers for the Adani Renewable Energy Park near Khavda, Bhuj district, near the India-Pakistan border in the western state of Gujarat, India, Sept. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)
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India’s power demand is surging, but some solar energy is going to waste
As extreme heat and poor monsoon rains result in more demand for power in India for cooling and pumping out groundwater for agriculture, India is managing to meet its power needs.
India is rapidly building solar power plants and at the same time recording increasing electricity consumption, but faced a paradoxical problem - part of the produced clean.
Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Government Post Graduate College for Women, Rajajipuram, Lucknow has taken an important initiative towards energy conservation and promotion of renewable energy. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Physics Department of the college and Innovative Power Solutions of New Delhi for a period of 10 years. Under this agreement, Innovative Power Solutions will install 25 hybrid system solar street ligh…
India’s power demand surging, but some solar energy is going to waste
BENGALURU — When India’s power demand surged at the height of summer, the country struggled to meet evening needs as air conditioners ran longer amid hotter nights. Despite this demand, some renewable energy providers were told to limit their output because the country had more clean electricity available than its grid could safely handle, AP […] The post India’s power demand surging, but some solar energy is going to waste appeared first on Egy…
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