Between late May and December 2025, India had to reduce its solar production by 2.3 terawatt hours (TWh), a scenario that highlights the power system’s needs for a high-renewables future.
India Solar Power Reduction Signals Grid Flexibility Needs
According to a research by Ember, flexibility improvements must keep up with the expansion of solar power capacity since the total reported curtailment amounts to nearly 18% of the average monthly solar output of 13 TWh.
The energy think tank’s analysis said that while solar capacity additions in India increased dramatically in 2025, solar electricity was often curtailed as a last-ditch effort to maintain grid stability.
Compensation and Emergency Measures
☀️ India Solar Power Reduction 2025
- Period: Late May – December 2025
- Solar Energy Reduced: 2.3 TWh
- Average Monthly Solar Output: ~13 TWh
- Share Impacted: ~18%
- Main Reason: Grid stability and transmission limits
- Signal: Need for flexibility & storage
It reveals that between late May, when reporting began, and December 2025, India had to reduce 2.3 terawatt hours (TWh) of solar generation. As a result, emergency Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service (TRAS) mechanisms were required to pay between ₹575 and ₹690 crore (roughly $63–76 million) in compensation.
A large 38 gigawatt (GW) solar power capacity was installed in 2025. However, transmission limitations and grid security concerns via emergency measures made RE curtailment a major subject of the year, according to Ember.
Expert Views on Renewable Energy Limiting
Such limiting, in many respects, undermines the whole goal of developing this skill. “Grid security-related curtailment in 2025 may not be a huge worry in isolation, since it was mostly prompted by lower-than-expected demand, but it functioned as a real-world stress test for a high-solar future,” noted Ruchita Shah, Energy Analyst at Ember. It brought to light a basic fact: without flexibility, renewable energy cannot scale effectively, she said.
Sanjeev Aggarwal, Chairman of Hexa Climate, had a similar opinion, pointing out that a velocity mismatch—generation rises at 24% while transmission lags at 6%—is the primary problem.
Transmission and Infrastructure Gap
“Distributed generation just cannot reach the scale required for heavy industries. We do not need new goals to address this; instead, we need the execution infrastructure—faster corridors and storage—to link our industrial engines and resource centers. India’s energy revolution runs the danger of breaking apart into ineffective regional silos if this is not fixed,” he emphasized.
The National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC) was unable to reduce other generating sources enough to accommodate noon solar output, which led to the curtailment under regularly recurring operating circumstances.
Operational and Demand Conditions
⚡ Grid Flexibility Requirements
- Issue: Midday solar oversupply
- Constraint: Coal plants at minimum limits
- Demand Pattern: Lower-than-expected usage
- Missing Piece: Storage capacity
- Needed: Faster transmission corridors
- Priority: Flexible generation response
The research tank said that these circumstances included, for instance, lower-than-expected demand, which often happened in 2025 as a result of unusually mild temperatures.
October 2025 saw a decline in demand, with the noon drop being double that of the evening. In these situations, the system operator had to reduce solar production to maintain grid stability even after scaling down the coal fleet to its lowest technical limitations.
Flexibility Strategy for High-Renewable Future
According to Ember, 2025 is a sign of the power system’s needs for a high-renewable future and demonstrates the need for Indian flexibility improvements to keep up with the expansion of solar capacity.
It notes that India is already moving in this direction and suggests a three-level approach to boost flexibility that will be put into action in the short to mid term.
Three-Level Flexibility Approach
First, making sure that when renewable production is high, other producing assets may adjust their output. Second, constructing more storage facilities to hold surplus renewable energy for periods of increased demand. Lastly, another crucial step to be ready for the future is to move non-critical demand to times when renewable energy is abundant.
Frequently asked questions
1. Why did India restrict 2.3 TWh of solar electricity in 2025?
Concerns about grid stability, lower-than-expected demand, and transmission limitations that hindered the complete absorption of midday solar energy were the major reasons India reduced solar power.
2. Describe solar curtailment.
In order to preserve grid balance and avoid overload, solar curtailment refers to lowering or ceasing solar power output even while it is available.
3. What does 2.3 TWh of reduced solar energy mean?
It represents around 18% of India’s average monthly solar production (about 13 TWh), making it a significant indication of system stress under high renewable penetration.
4. What are the primary reasons for the reduction of renewable energy?
Key factors include delayed transmission development, limited storage capacity, inflexible thermal plants, and abrupt dips in power consumption.
5. What remedies are recommended to lessen future curtailment?
More grid flexibility, quicker transmission routes, massive energy storage, adaptable generating assets, and moving demand to high-renewable hours are all suggested by experts.
Conclusion
India’s 2.3 TWh solar curtailment demonstrates that a sustainable energy transition requires more than just increasing renewable capacity.
Solar capacity must increase together with grid flexibility, storage growth, and quicker transmission construction. By bolstering these sectors, India would be able to make the most of renewable energy sources and develop a reliable high-renewable power grid.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Energy data and estimates may change with updated reports and official sources. Always verify with authoritative publications.
