On two occasions in May, price of electricity on Indian Energy Exchange fell to zero. How can something so crazy happen when the country is in the grip of a severe energy crisis? Because India has been installing solar energy faster than local demand can absorb it, and the surplus can neither be stored (lack of battery storage) or transmitted to zones needing power (insufficient transmission lines). So, even as India boasts of record expansion of solar capacity, more is being shut down.
The worst problem is in Rajasthan, a desert state with enormous solar potential but limited industrial demand. Since the summer of 2025, solar and wind projects there have suffered severe curtailment, with some forced to shut down completely during peak daylight hours. An ET report revealed that the state had been curtailing up to 80% of solar generation for weeks because of low demand.
