New Delhi: India generated 464 billion units (BU) of electricity in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025-26, up 3% year-on-year, driven by strong growth in non-fossil fuel-based power generation, especially solar power, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said on Thursday.While coal and lignite based generation declined by 1%, generation from solar and wind increased by 24% and 11% respectively. Solar generation reached 48.9 BU in Q4, with the highest daily generation of 658 million units (MU) recorded on March 2, the research organization noted in its first quarterly energy snapshot for India.However, it said the increasing incidence of renewable energy outages highlights the growing challenges in integrating clean energy into the grid. A significant amount of clean energy remained unused during the last quarter of FY26, with approximately 27 GW (72 MU) of solar power and 4 GW (6 MU) of wind power cut. An additional 83 GW (103 MU) of solar and 11 GW (17.5 MU) of wind power were curtailed under India’s Tertiary Reserve Support Service, a manually activated power system balancing service used to resolve grid congestion.Manoj Kumar, India Analyst at CREA, said, “India’s growing electricity demand is being met by renewable energy, especially during peak hours of the day. However, increasing curtailment of renewable energy shows that grid infrastructure and flexibility are not keeping pace with clean energy growth. With stronger transmission networks, more flexible grid operations and faster battery deployment, a larger portion of evening and night-time demand can also be met through non-fossil sources.”The highest outages were recorded in Gujarat, highlighting grid integration challenges in high-renewable areas.After recording an all-time peak demand of 250 GW on May 30, 2024, India’s peak power demand reached a new fourth quarter peak demand of 245 GW on January 9, 2026. Thermal generation accounted for 67% of the total (165 GW), followed by solar at 20% (48 GW). Maharashtra recorded the highest state-level peak demand (32 GW) in Q4FY26, followed by Gujarat (25 GW) and Uttar Pradesh (23 GW).