ICRA warns transmission constraints may curb India's renewable energy expansion

Rating agency ICRA said on Wednesday that insufficient transmission lines have become a major obstacle to India's rapid expansion of renewable energy capacity, leading to many solar power projects being curtailed during daylight hours. Curtailment occurs when a power generator is forced to reduce or stop producing electricity due to oversupply and grid congestion.

Around 37% of renewable energy capacity at substations affected by curtailment in the northern, western, and southern regions operates under a Temporary General Network Access (T-GNA), and this capacity faces 30% to 50% curtailment during the day, ICRA said in a statement. T-GNA is a short-term arrangement that allows a renewable energy project to use available capacity on the inter-State transmission system. The curtailment threatens to slow the expansion of renewable energy in India.