As India records unprecedented electricity demand, solar and wind energy are no longer supplementary source, they are becoming the backbone of the nation’s power system.
Speaking at the Yuva Sustainability Roundtable on “Solar Energy for a Cooler Future”, organised by Yuva for Sustainability on 4 June 2025, on the eve of World Environment Day, Subrahmanyam Pulipaka, CEO of the National Solar Federation of India, reflected on a recent milestone for India’s power sector. Hr shared that India’s electricity demand touched nearly 270 gigawatts – one of the highest levels ever recorded. It was 3:15 pm, the hottest part of the day, when millions of air conditioners and appliances across the country were drawing power from the grid. Then came the statistic that put the moment into perspective.
“One out of every three units consumed at that moment was coming from solar.”
At the single hottest and most electricity-intensive moment of the day, solar power was carrying a third of India’s load. Not as backup. Not as a peripheral source filling gaps. As infrastructure the grid now depended on.
“We are no longer an ancillary part of the energy mix,” Pulipaka said. “We are no longer addressing periphery requirements of the grid. We are the backbone of the grid.”
When Renewables Carry the Load
For years, renewable energy was discussed as a supplement to conventional power generation. Pulipaka’s observations suggested that this narrative is rapidly changing. The significance of solar power lies not merely in the amount of installed capacity, but in its contribution during moments of peak demand. At a time when cooling requirements are rising across India, solar energy is increasingly meeting a substantial share of the country’s daytime electricity needs.
He then turned to what happens after sunset.
At 9:15 pm, with air conditioners still running and households continuing their evening activities, one in every five units of electricity consumed in India was coming from wind energy.
The figures painted a picture of a power system where renewable energy is no longer operating at the margins. Solar and wind are increasingly becoming integral to the functioning of the national grid.
Growth at an Unprecedented Scale
Pulipaka offered a comparison that illustrated the magnitude of India’s clean energy transition.
“The renewable energy we will add in the next five years is more than the total installed capacity we achieved as a country in the first sixty years of our independence.”
He did not present this as a slogan. He stated it the way one states arithmetic because the number, on its own, required no embellishment.
The comparison highlighted the extraordinary pace at which renewable energy deployment is accelerating across India. What once took decades to build is now being matched and exceeded – within a matter of years.
The Storage Challenge
While optimistic about the future, Pulipaka was equally candid about the challenges that remain.
“Today our energy storage capacity is yet to touch double digits.” There was no defensiveness in the statement, only an acknowledgement that storage remains one of the critical pieces required for the next phase of the energy transition.
Yet his confidence in the future was unmistakable.
“But in the next three years, I have full confidence we will not only cross double digits, but renewable energy coupled with battery will be the single largest energy generation source in this country.”
Energy storage is increasingly recognised as the bridge between renewable energy generation and round-the-clock power availability. As battery deployment scales up, it has the potential to address one of the most persistent concerns associated with renewable energy: variability.
From Aspiration to Reality
He allowed the next statement to settle quietly across the room. “Ten years back, this was a dream. In two years from now, it will be reality.”
It was, in the end, not a speech built on persuasion.
Pulipaka did not ask the audience to believe in renewable energy. He simply laid out what the grid was already doing, hour by hour, unit by unit and allowed the numbers to tell their own story.
If there was a central message in his remarks, it was this: renewable energy in India is no longer a promise for the future. It is already powering the present.
And increasingly, it is becoming the backbone of the nation’s energy system.
Koyna Rajput is B.Tech, Agriculture from LNCTU, Bhopal.