India's stranded renewable projects doubled to more than 50 GW in just nine months due to regulatory bottlenecks and incomplete transmission lines.
Billions of dollars' worth of projects by JSW, NTPC, Adani Green and others are left without buyers due to the absence of signed power purchase agreements.
Lack of large-scale battery storage and critical mineral supply threatens to incorporate more than 50 GW of stranded renewable capacity efficiently.
India's stranded renewable power capacity - projects awarded but unable to come online - more than doubled over nine months, due to unfinished transmission lines, and legal and regulatory delays, letters from an industry group to the government showed, reported Reuters.
With aims to more than double its non-fossil fuel power capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030, the acceleration has left projects without firm agreements to supply power.
Renewable projects with unsigned power purchase agreements with buyers that won tenders to generate power have surged to over 50 gigawatts, India's Sustainable Projects Developers Association said in a letter to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on June 27, according to Reuters.
That compared with stranded projects of over 20 GW, another letter sent by the SPDA on October 4 showed. Both letters were reviewed by Reuters.
Projects worth billions of dollars, awarded to companies including JSW, NTPC, Adani Green, ACME Solar, Renew and Sembcorp are stuck, two industry officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.
"Energy transition is not just about building solar and wind capacity, it is also about ensuring that clean power reaches in a most optimum cost and timely manner," the SPDA said in its June 27 letter to the renewable energy ministry.
The stranded solar and wind capacity without buyers of over 50 GW reported by the SPDA is about a quarter the size of India's current installed renewable capacity of 184.6 GW.
The companies did not respond to Reuters requests seeking comment.
A spokesperson for India's power ministry told Reuters on Saturday renewable projects of about 44 GW had been awarded generation licences by federal agencies - which account for most tenders - but did not have supply agreements.
He did not elaborate on the scale of the increase in stranded projects, the duration of delay or companies affected.
Delays in critical transmission infrastructure - especially in sun-drenched states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat - have forced many solar plants to miss commissioning deadlines, the SPDA said in the June letter.
Clean Energy Projects Stuck
Another emerging concern is the lack of energy storage infrastructure to back up intermittent renewable generation. According to Financial Times, expanding integrated solar‑plus‑battery systems, as seen in the solar‑powered village of Modhera, remains a critical obstacle for balancing supply and demand even as renewable capacity expands rapidly.
The shortage of storage facilities, due partly to scarcity of critical minerals and manufacturing capacity to make batteries, could impact Modi’s 2070 net zero pledge.
