India's wind power output is high during low solar monsoon months

In India, wind and solar follow a seasonal complementarity. For example, the strong southwest monsoon wind causes an increase in wind generation during the monsoon season (June – September) whereas a decrease in solar generation is observed due to monsoon cloud cover, reflecting higher seasonal synergies.

Diurnal Complementarity

In India, wind power often peaks during the night and early morning, while solar power is at its highest during the day. Wind generation often increases during the late afternoon, evening and early morning hours when solar power is not available. By harnessing this complementarity, India can achieve a more reliable and stable RE supply throughout the day, reducing the need for thermal power during non-solar hours.

Data from 2023 suggests that wind’s share in the grid ranged from 3% (around 7:30 AM) to 7.2% (around 12:30 AM) and remained below 5% between 6 AM and 4 PM. Solar, on the other hand, gradually increased from sunrise, reaching 19% around noon before declining by sunset.  

Had India met its 2022 wind targets, wind capacity by the end of 2022 would have reached around 60 GW and this would have pushed the share of wind in the grid to at least 6% during daytime (from close to 3% currently) and it could have gone up to 14.5% during non-solar hours, up from the current evening time high of around 6.3%. This would have helped reduce reliance on thermal power considerably (~7%-points) to meet non-solar hour demand.

Therefore, while solar capacity continues to expand, achieving the projected wind capacity addition of 122 GW by March 2032 (as defined in the NEP14) is critical.