As India heads into the peak summer months, the country’s power system faces a major challenge: a growing divergence between daytime solar abundance and night-time shortages.
Since temperatures began rising sharply in mid-April, daily peak power demand was recorded during daytime on at least 10 of the 15 days, according to data from Grid Controller of India (Grid India). However, shortages were reported during night on 13 of those 15 days, underscoring the strain after sunset. In April, the night-time power shortage shot up as high as 5.4 gigawatts (GW), enough to serve 2.7 million rural homes, underscoring the strain after sunset.
One stabilising factor so far has been that a significant share of air-conditioning load is currently met during daytime hours, aligning with peak solar power generation, people aware of the matter told The Indian Express. However, they point out that other sources of load, such as EV charging and electric cooking, tend to rise after sunset. That is typically after the solar load has crashed.
The shortfall has also been exacerbated by outages at thermal power plants, which continue to form the backbone of India’s night-time electricity supply. On April 24, when the night-time shortage touched 5.4 GW, nearly 23.8 GW of coal- and nuclear-based capacity was under forced outage, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). Forced outages refer to unplanned disruptions caused by technical faults, equipment failures, or fuel constraints.
Experts maintained this highlights the growing need to expand firm baseload generation alongside large-scale deployment of energy storage systems as renewable energy capacity continues to rise rapidly.
Yet additions to baseload capacity have lagged far behind the pace of renewable energy deployment. Between April 2025 and January 2026, India added around 43 GW of renewable energy capacity, while thermal capacity additions stood at only 16.5 GW between April 2023 and November 2025. Battery storage deployment also remains nascent, with installed battery energy storage capacity at just 0.27 GW.
India’s nuclear power fleet, meanwhile, remains limited at 8.8 GW and is unlikely to expand significantly over the next five to six years, limiting options for firm low-carbon baseload supply.
Sustained heat condition
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A warmer-than-usual April has already pushed up electricity demand to unprecedented levels, touching a record high of 256 gigawatts (GW).
Earlier this week, digital air-quality monitoring platform AQI said in a report that April this year is not a “normal” April. It was found that each of the 50 hottest cities in the world were in India. The rankings are based on sustained temperatures through 24 hours of the day on April 27. A city can report a scorching afternoon maximum, but could rank lower if it cools off during the nights, the report said, explaining the methodology.
“Across all 50 cities, the average peak temperature on April 27 was 44.7°C. The coolest maximum on the entire list — Solapur at 41.9°C — would be considered a public health emergency anywhere in Europe,” the report read.
This sustained heat means round-the-clock demand for power to run appliances like air conditioners. While the rapid addition of renewable energy capacity over the past few years has ensured enough capacity to meet the daytime requirement, the stress on the grid is becoming most pronounced at night, posing challenges for grid operators.
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Challenges for grid stability
This strain could further intensify in May — a month typically considered as the peak of pre-monsoon summer before the rain arrives in June. Western states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra, along with the east coast states and parts of the Himalayan foothills, are likely to see more days of unusually high temperatures in the coming weeks, the country’s weather forecaster said in its forecast for May.
Alekhya Datta, Fellow and Director, Electricity and Renewables Division at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), said that anticipated evening supply shortfall during peak summer underscores structural challenges in balancing high renewable penetration with limited dispatchable capacity.
“This may pose risks to grid stability through sharper ramping requirements and tighter frequency control margins. In the near term, improved demand-side management, flexible operation of existing thermal assets, and optimized inter-regional power flows can help bridge the gap,” he said.
Over the medium term, he added, accelerated deployment of storage and augmentation of flexible generation capacity will be critical to address such deficits sustainably.
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Former Power Secretary Anil Razdan said addressing power shortages during night would require either an expansion of baseload generation sources such as thermal and nuclear power, or the parallel development of energy storage capacity alongside renewable energy additions.
“Solar is fundamentally a daytime source of energy. If we want reliable 24-hour power, renewable capacity must be coupled with storage — whether through batteries or pumped storage projects,” he said.
“The planning of intermittent renewable energy has to include concurrent development of storage capacities so that steady power is available during both day and night,” he added.
Razdan also called for a rethink of India’s building design standards to curb cooling demand through passive measures. “Architectural norms for residential and commercial spaces need an immediate relook. Buildings should be designed for passive cooling through better ventilation, hollow bricks, insulation gaps and other climate-sensitive features,” he said.
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He further stressed the need to address the challenge from the demand side by tightening efficiency standards for cooling appliances and other electrical equipment like elevators. “Air-conditioning, refrigeration as well as electrical equipment and machinery that do not meet efficiency standards should attract higher duties,” he said, adding that India’s appliance and electrical equipment rating system requires continuous revision to encourage the adoption of more energy-efficient products and improve consumer awareness.
