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India’s power demand hit a record 256 GW on April 25, 2026, driven by an intense heatwave and hotter nights.
Solar and hydro together supplied 30 per cent of peak demand, pushing coal to its technical flexibility limits.
Gas filled rapid ramping gaps at high cost, underscoring the need for storage, demand management and coal flexibilisation reforms.
India’s peak power demand broke records on consecutive days of April 24–25, 2026, surpassing the earlier peak power demand of 249.8 GW set in FY 2024-25. The peak power demand rose sharply over the previous week, with heatwave conditions in the country contributing to the rise.
Peak demand rose upto 252 GW by 3:48pm on April 24 and breached this by rising upto 256 GW by 3:38pm on April 25, 2026. The highest recorded temperature during this time period was 47.4°C with average maximum temperature across the country ranging between 40-45°C.
The actual peak demand for April 20-26 was 16 GW higher than what India’s power grid had projected. The anticipated peak power demand for the current summer months is pegged at 270 GW. Though, the mid-term review of 20th Electric Power Survey estimates upto 289 GW. Contextually, the prediction for summer of 2025 was also around 270 GW, though the intermittent rains and lower average temperature across the summer months kept the peak power demand pegged at 245.4 GW. Therefore, heat intensity plays a huge role in the actual power consumption on the given day, highlighting the need of keeping environmental factors in mind for future planning.
The duration of April 23-26, 2026 showcases the average heightened power demand owing to high temperatures, with the lowest power demand being at around 212 GW on April 26, at 6pm on the Sunday evening.
The power demand picks up from the morning hours itself, with April 24-25, showcasing a mid-day high from 9am. By 12pm noon, the power demand continues to rise, reaching the new peak between 3-4pm, and wanes slightly around 6pm. The demand then reaches afternoon level loads during night time, i.e. between 9:30pm and 12am, highlighting the issue of heated nights in general.
The sustained heat creates two challenges simultaneously. Firstly, the overall electricity consumption increases over the entire day, with demand above 220 GW, requiring power infrastructure especially transmission to remain at its capacity for weeks in continuation. The four-day power demand snapshot highlights the issue with average power demand continuing to remain high, i.e. above 215 GW, over the mentioned dates.
Secondly, the peak in power demand is not arriving at high solar energy generation hours, highlighting the challenge of meeting this demand, with reduced solar energy creating a need for use of fossil fuel based thermal energy. Nonetheless, India’s rising RE power capacity role in meeting the peak cannot be understated, and the shift is already visible.
The peak power demand of April 25, 2026 showcased the rising role of RE in India’s power grid. Non-fossil sources now account for over half of India’s total installed capacity. On the day of the peak, the overall role of solar energy, supported by hydro energy during non-solar hours minimized the role of fossil fuels. During the peak demand, 30 percent of the total generation was sourced from RE. Solar energy provided 24 percent of the peak, with 58.2 GW capacity. Coal, the single largest installed power source, contributed 66 percent with 173.3 GW capacity.
Noticeably, the share of solar energy was on the wane when the peak demand arose, having already peaked at 80.8 GW earlier in the afternoon. Concurrently, solar share hit 33 per cent, while non-fossil fuels collectively met 42 per cent of the 239 GW peak demand during the afternoon hours.
The share of wind and nuclear power remained largely constant throughout at 3 per cent, with wind dropping to 1 per cent during the solar hours of the day.
Interestingly, the share of hydro power hovered between 4-5 percent during solar hours and rose to 11-12 per cent from 6pm onwards, providing the non-fossil firm power needed to stabilise the grid as solar generation faded, even as the evening peak receded sharply below afternoon levels.
Coal-based thermal power remains the grid's mainstay, meeting over two-thirds of total peak demand. However, this share retracted to 57 per cent during solar hours. This shift pushed the fleet near its 55 per cent minimum operational floor, demonstrating that coal is already flexing to its technical limit to prioritize renewable integration.
However, the fleet needs to respond in real time to the variability of demand, including its surges and slumps. The current regulations require a 1-3 per cent capability to ramp up and down, though the actual implementation across the coal fleet is limited. Invariably, gas-based thermal power fills in this gap. On April 25, 2026, Gas provided 2 per cent of the total peak demand, with 4.9 GW of capacity on board.
The ability of gas-powered units to ramp up and down sharply is illustrated with 10 per cent swing within a 15-minute time block happening to meet the power surge during peak.
Additionally, in the non-solar hours, gas-powered units’ share rose from 2 to 4 per cent, with the total capacity on board rising to 9.1 GW from 4.9 GW. This power is economically taxing on the consumers, heightened further by the current geopolitical situation.
Currently, gas-based electricity sits at a substantial premium, often costing three to five times more than coal or solar energy.
CEA’s long-term resource adequacy plan projects an annual growth of 5–5.5 per cent through FY 2035-36, with peak demand set to reach 459 GW. To meet this, the national portfolio will expand to 1,121 GW, a mix dominated by 509 GW of solar energy, while the coal-based thermal fleet is slated to reach 315 GW. The challenge herein lies in the integration of solar energy during daytime, while maintaining operational limits of the coal-fleet that continues to be the baseload provider.
Currently, 80 GW of solar energy pushed the share of coal power to near its current operational limit of 55 per cent. As of March 2026, 90 GW of solar capacity is under various stages of construction, resulting in around doubling of solar generation in the next two years. The estimation for peak demand growth is pegged at 12.5 per cent or roughly by an eighth. Presently, India has met its new peak power without any storage use, as the entirety of solar power was consumed.
To address wastage of RE, storage can accommodate the day time solar power with 28.7 GWh of ESS and 78.7 GWh of PSP under-construction. Yet, in the near-term, enhancing the minimum operational limit of coal-based thermal from 55 per cent to 40 per cent can free up roughly 34 GW of capacity, which can be used to integrate additional RE during daytime hours without relying on battery usage which remains limited in deployment.
Based on upcoming research from the Centre for Science and Environment, Parth Kumar, programme manager, industrial pollution, said, “Coal flexibilisation is the current cost optimal option for India’s power grid to integrate more renewables in the near term. Our research suggests that by phasing in these technical adjustments sooner, India can reduce RE curtailment and maximizing solar energy in meeting India’s growing peak demand.”
The availability of solar energy cushioned the grid’s capacity to meet the peak demand. As reflected in the GRID India’s data, the non-solar peak demand faced a shortage of 5.4 GW and 4.2 GW on April 24 and 25 respectively. A primary reason contributing to shortage is the capacity outage, with total outage of 35.7 GW and 34.8 GW over the two days. The Union Ministry of Power’s daily outage reports reveal the scale of the challenge, massive capacity undergoing minor maintenance during this 48-hour window. Over the two days, 19.4 GW and 16.4 GW coal capacity was out of use on the given days respectively.
While the current peak occurred during solar hours and remained below the projected levels for the year, the evening hours told the complete story. On April 25, 90 per cent of the coal fleet was either fully operational or undergoing minor maintenance, underscoring the massive operational scale required to anchor the grid when solar disappears.
CEA’s estimate anticipate peak in the month of May / June, highlighting the operational impact of higher temperatures. The demand pattern showcased the sustained high demand during night time, almost equivalent to afternoon consumption contributing to power shortage in specific. While capacity addition can aid the challenge of meeting demand peaks, mitigation of the peak demand is an unaddressed area. Demand side management, daytime EV charging and Time of the day tariffs can aid in avoiding non solar hour peaks. However, the larger environmental impact of heating especially in urban spaces powered by rising penetration of ACs and cooling needs deeper assessment.
Navigating the paradox of meeting peak demand with fossil fuels is a long-term hurdle that demands immediate strategic planning. The goal ought to be averaging out the peak and meeting a greater share of it with RE going ahead.