Gujarat lost 122 GW of solar generation in Q1 FY27 alone as transmission delays force grid operators to shut off clean power. CREA data shows emergency curtailment hit 421.7 GW for solar.
India's renewable energy curtailment hit a material scale in the first quarter of the financial year, with 235.5 gigawatts of clean power generation directly shut off from the grid. The figure, from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, reflects a widening gap between solar and wind capacity additions and the transmission infrastructure needed to absorb them.
Solar plants bore the brunt: 185.5 GW of solar generation was deliberately reduced or stopped in the April-June period, according to CREA analyst Manoj Kumar. Wind farms lost another 50 GW. The direct curtailment numbers understate the problem, Kumar said. Emergency curtailment under the Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service mechanism, which Grid India manually activates to resolve congestion, hit 421.7 GW for solar – more than double the direct figure – and 67.4 GW for wind.
Gujarat recorded the highest losses. The state's solar curtailment reached 122 GW, or 276 million units, and its wind curtailment reached 39 GW, or 81 million units, over the quarter. The worst TRAS-down events clustered at the Khavda and Bhuji pooling stations, where 79 GW of solar and 19 GW of wind generation were backed down.
The Q1 losses follow a Q4 FY26 quarter that saw 26.6 GW of solar and 3.6 GW of wind directly curtailed, with TRAS-based emergency curtailment three times higher on the solar side.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said the trend is becoming a barrier to India's renewable expansion. "Grid India data shows solar curtailment in April was 74% higher than the combined total for January through March, highlighting growing grid constraints amid rising daytime electricity demand," the group said in a note. "This makes investment in grid infrastructure and battery storage just as critical to the energy transition as adding new renewable capacity."
Transmission projects awarded through the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) route are routinely delayed beyond their scheduled commissioning dates, said Ankit Jain, VP and Co-Group Head at ICRA. Land acquisition, right-of-way issues, and regulatory approvals are the main bottlenecks, he said.
Jain pointed out that roughly 33% of the 54.8 GW of recently commissioned renewable capacity is being evacuated under the Temporary-General Network Access (T-GNA) route as of May 2026. Curtailment under T-GNA is highest during solar hours, running at 50-60% across that period. The problem is most acute in Rajasthan and Gujarat, while southern states have kept curtailment limited even during solar hours, he said.
A pipeline of roughly 107 GW of projects – spanning solar, wind, hybrid, hydro, pumped storage, and thermal – that have already secured connectivity is scheduled for integration into the inter-state transmission system between FY27 and FY31. The timeline assumes transmission projects will be built on schedule.
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