Adani Green bets on battery storage to offset grid issues

Mumbai: Transmission constraints are forcing renewable power producers to curtail output, hurting earnings despite installed generation capacity.

Adani Green Energy lost Rs 700 crore in Ebitda over the six months ended September. Without curtailment, its first-half FY27 Ebitda would have been about Rs 9,000 crore, against the actual Rs 8,276 crore.

"If curtailment would not have been there, the Ebitda would have been higher," said Ashish Khanna, CEO, Adani Green Energy Ltd. The company said it is investing in battery energy storage systems (BESS), which is helping it mitigate curtailment challenges at Khavda in Gujarat by providing greater flexibility in managing renewable generation and enabling the utilisation of electricity that would otherwise go to waste.

"Energy storage is becoming the next major pillar of our growth. During the quarter, we commissioned 3 gigawatt hour of battery energy storage at Khavda, taking our total installed storage capacity to 6.6 gigawatt hour," added Khanna.

Developers have been commissioning large capacities, particularly in resource-rich states such as Gujarat and Rajasthan, but delays in transmission lines and grid infrastructure have prevented some of the power from reaching consumers.

Another renewable energy player ReNew's estimated curtailment in the first-half of the year amounted to $18-19 million (Rs 179 crore), of which $9-10 million was incurred in the September quarter. ReNew, however, said the situation was improving over the course of the year and indicated that discussions with the government could provide some relief to affected developers.

Transmission availability and grid-operational constraints are emerging as key reasons for the wastage of renewable electricity.

Khanna said transmission-related right-of-way (ROW) issues were among the challenges affecting the sector, adding that both state and central governments were focusing on resolving them. He said companies were closely tracking the efforts being made, even though the issue was largely outside their control.

India curtailed approximately 1.835 billion units of renewable electricity during July and August 2026, comprising 1,462 million units of solar power and 373 million units of wind generation, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). About 4.2% of total solar generation during the two months could not be supplied to the grid. The curtailment occurred even as electricity demand remained strong, with peak demand reaching 270 GW on July 16, around 18% higher than the corresponding period a year earlier. Power generation during the second quarter of FY27 increased 11% year-on-year to 536 billion units, CREA said in its quarterly energy assessment released on October 12.