New Delhi: The renewable energy generation in Delhi declined during the last financial year even as the overall electricity demand continued to rise, highlighting the growing challenge of meeting the city’s expanding power needs through local clean energy sources, official data shows.The data indicates that renewable energy generation fell to around 1,288 million units in 2024-25 from nearly 1,518 million units in 2023-24. During the same period, the total electricity consumption in the city increased significantly, driven by both higher domestic and commercial usage.
Senior officials, however, said the decline in local renewable output needed to be viewed in perspective, given Delhi’s inherent geographical limitations. “Delhi has very limited space for setting up large-scale renewable projects. Renewable energy generation is largely restricted to rooftop solar installations and waste-to-energy plants, both of which have natural capacity constraints,” an official said. Weather-related factors and operational issues were also cited as contributors to year-on-year fluctuations.At the same time, the domestic electricity demand recorded the steepest increase in 2024-25, reflecting rising household demand linked to urbanisation, increased appliance usage and climate-related cooling requirements due to an extended summer. Commercial consumption also saw strong growth, in line with expanding economic activities and the resultant rising demand from offices, retail establishments, malls and the service sector. In contrast, industrial consumption remained relatively stable, suggesting that manufacturing activity did not expand at the same pace.Since both renewable and conventional generation cannot be scaled up proportionately, the city continues to depend heavily on power sourced from the central sector and interstate generating stations. Officials emphasised that this reliance was part of a planned procurement strategy rather than a short-term measure. “Delhi continues to meet its renewable purchase obligations through a mix of local generation, long-term renewable power procurement from outside and renewable energy certificates, in line with the national policy and regulatory frameworks,” the official said.Discoms, particularly BSES, are steadily increasing their clean energy footprint, officials pointed out. Plans are in place to source more than half of the long-term power requirements from clean energy by 2026-27, with the share expected to rise to nearly 60% by 2029-30. Parallel efforts are underway to expand decentralised solar generation.Officials claimed that industrial consumption patterns reflected stability rather than decline in key distribution areas in 2024-25. In south and west Delhi as well as east and central Delhi, the number of industrial consumers remained broadly stable and electricity sales showed steady growth. This indicates higher average consumption by existing industrial units rather than an increase in the number of factories, the official pointed out.However, officials admitted that industrial electricity usage had shown a stagnant or gradually declining trend over the years. They attributed it to structural factors, including the relocation of industrial units to other parts of National Capital Region due to space constraints, environmental regulations and cost considerations. Stricter pollution control norms and the adoption of energy-efficient technologies also moderated the industrial electricity demand within Delhi, the official said.Taken together, the data points to a structural shift in the city’s electricity consumption pattern, with the growth driven primarily by households and the service sector, the backbone of Delhi’s economy. As the demand continues to rise, officials said accelerating rooftop solar deployment, strengthening interstate renewable procurement and improving grid integration would be critical to ensuring a reliable and sustainable power supply for the city in the coming years.
