Sanjay Gupta: India Must Align Renewables with Storage, Hydrogen, and Grid Expansion
06-September 2025
Apollo Green Energy Eyes Storage and Hydrogen as Partnerships Move Forward, Says CEO Sanjay Gupta
Apollo Green Energy
Ltd. is gearing up to advance strategic investments in energy storage and
hydrogen projects, according to CEO Sanjay Gupta, who spoke in an interview
with Energetica India’s Abha Rustagi.
Curtailment: A Growing Concern but Manageable
Gupta acknowledged that solar power curtailment in India has
risen, attributing it to a growing supply-demand mismatch. Since 2019,
approximately 1,410 GWh of solar energy has been curtailed— a figure he
called significant but still a small fraction of overall output. These curbs
are mostly occurring during bright afternoons with low demand, due to grid
constraints such as frequency and corridor limitations. The Ministry of Power,
he noted, has mitigated concerns by emphasising that curtailment is used for
grid stability and congestion management—not as a signal to slow renewable
deployment.
Gupta emphasized the importance of infrastructure and flexibility in growing in tandem with renewables, urging the sector to utilize curtailment data to
prioritize siting, storage deployment, and transmission upgrades. Similar
patterns have emerged globally in systems with high renewable integration.
Sharpening Policy and Incentives for Flexibility
Responding to questions on regulatory sufficiency, Gupta
said that while foundational policies, such as the must-run status for solar and wind, exist, improvements are needed in their execution. He called for standardised
curtailment protocols, clear thresholds, compensation mechanisms, and
procurement frameworks that reward structured and firm energy delivery—not
merely raw megawatt-hours.
He further recommended valuing flexible, shaped supply and
ancillary services in contracts, alongside fast-tracking grid and storage
projects—strategies already signaled by the central government—to alleviate
curtailment pressures.
The Deployment Pace vs. Grid Adaptation Gap
Gupta highlighted a structural challenge: while renewable
capacity can be deployed within 12–18 months, bringing high-capacity
transmission lines and substations online takes several years. This mismatch
contributes significantly to curtailment. He praised India’s progress in
reaching over 50% non-fossil installed capacity ahead of schedule, but stressed
that actual delivery still depends on grid readiness.
His message: renewables should not be slowed down. Instead,
grid expansion, system services enhancement, and storage development must
accompany new capacity additions.
A Three-Pronged Strategy for 2030 Clean-Energy Goals
Looking ahead, Sanjay Gupta outlined a “three lanes”
strategy to avert structural barriers to India’s clean-energy goals by 2030:
- Wires:
Synchronise transmission and substation investments with renewable energy
hub development.
- Flex:
Deploy battery storage for rapid response and congestion relief; integrate
pumped hydro for longer-duration needs; normalize hybrid procurement to
prioritize energy “shape,” not just energy.
- Markets
& Operations: Improve forecasting and scheduling, enable ancillary
markets, and harness price signals to mobilize flexible demand.
These combined measures, Gupta believes, will enable India
to meet its 500 GW non-fossil energy target by 2030 while maintaining
high utilization rates of renewables—potentially delivering over 95% of the
generated clean energy to end-users, provided integration keeps pace with
capacity expansion.
Apollo Green Energy’s Integration-Driven Approach
At the company level, Gupta stated that Apollo GreenEnergy’s strategic growth aligns closely with national clean-energy integration
efforts. Their approach emphasizes pairing new capacity with storage and
ensuring early grid connectivity. “We’re shifting from megawatts to
megawatt-hours—from capacity to integration,” Gupta said, expressing confidence
that India’s 500 GW by 2030 target remains entirely realistic with such
alignment