Efficient clean energy evacuation requires fixing transmission bottlenecks

• India’s transmission expansion is being tested on the ground, with Rajasthan emerging as a major stress point due to large-scale curtailment of clean energy.
• Despite significant investment in transmission infrastructure, the real challenge is whether the grid can reliably evacuate power from renewable generation centres to demand hubs.
• In Rajasthan, over 4,000 MW of fully commissioned solar capacity has reportedly faced near-zero evacuation during peak generation hours, leading to severe revenue losses.
• This curtailment reflects operational constraints rather than lack of physical lines, including voltage instability, low system strength, thermal limits, and congestion at pooling stations.
• Transmission capacity on paper does not translate directly into usable capacity during real-time grid operations.
• The commissioning of the 765 kV Khetri-Narela corridor was expected to ease congestion but delivered only about 600 MW of additional usable capacity.
• This limited margin was quickly absorbed by projects with permanent General Network Access (GNA), pushing temporary GNA projects into curtailment.
• Rajasthan has around 23 GW of installed renewable capacity, but effective evacuation capacity is closer to 18.9 GW, leaving about 4.3 GW regularly curtailed during peak hours.
• The situation exposes a structural imbalance where renewable developers bear the full risk of grid readiness without compensation for forced curtailment.
• Early-completed projects are penalised through lost revenues, while delayed projects risk losing connectivity approvals, creating asymmetric regulatory risks.
• This undermines India’s clean energy ambition of 500 GW non-fossil capacity and weakens investor confidence in the sector.
• Large transmission investments must be evaluated on usable power flow, not just kilometres built or voltages upgraded.
• Curtailment in Rajasthan alone puts nearly ₹20,000 crore of renewable investments at financial risk.
• Revenue shocks increase financing costs as lenders may begin treating grid access as a structural risk.
• Import diversification is critical as China has tightened silver export controls from January 1, 2026, shifting to a licence-based export system.
• Under the new Chinese rules, only approved firms can export silver, and each shipment requires government authorisation, increasing global supply concerns and price volatility.
• With limited new mining capacity and expanding technological uses, silver is increasingly linked to future industrial and energy dominance.
• Around 55-60% of global silver demand now comes from industrial uses such as electronics, solar power, electric vehicles, defence, and medical technologies.
• Solar energy alone accounts for roughly 15% of global silver demand, a share that is rising rapidly with renewable capacity expansion.
• Silver supply chains are less transparent than gold, making them strategically vulnerable as global competition intensifies.
• Silver’s antibacterial properties make it vital in healthcare applications including wound dressings, medical-device coatings, surgical tools, water purification, and pharmaceuticals.
• Curtailment also wastes expensive grid-support assets installed by developers, such as STATCOMs and harmonic filters, which remain idle during shutdown-like conditions.
• The episode raises governance concerns around whether grid operators are evaluated on optimising asset utilisation alongside maintaining grid security.
• India lacks advanced real-time operational tools, dynamic security assessment, and incentive structures to maximise usable transmission capacity.
• Proven technical solutions such as grid-forming inverters, synchronous condensers, STATCOMs, and advanced power electronics can strengthen grids in high-renewable regions.
• Global grid operators increasingly rely on forecasting, adaptive controls, and dynamic operating limits rather than conservative static margins.
• Key policy questions remain unresolved, including why major corridors add so little usable capacity and how sudden evacuation losses will be prevented.
• India’s clean energy transition now depends less on adding generation capacity and more on fixing grid absorption, evacuation efficiency, and operational readiness.