India’s energy grid isn’t keeping up with a surge in clean power. The country wants to reach 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, but “we won’t be able to exceed it because there’s not enough transmission,” a developer told the Financial Times.
Renewable projects are built in 12 to 18 months, but transmission lines — which carry electricity to the places where people need it — can take three to five years. The buildout is sometimes delayed by regulations like mandates that cables run underground in bird habitats, Down To Earth magazine reported.
“To perfect the timing is impossible,” a leading industry CEO said. China has similarly seen wind and solar energy go to waste because of grid bottlenecks.
