India, March 18 -- The situation that we were dreading is at our doorstep now: Adding to our renewable capacity and balancing the grid with coal plants may not be feasible or economical any further. Generators have started highlighting that this kind of operation is damaging the machines. The supply of electricity to our grid has to match our demand on a real-time basis.

If there is mismatch beyond a point, the grid will collapse with a cascading effect. In case of excess supply, the path is stark: Reduce supply by cutting coal-based generation and/or renewable generation; else, reduce demand. Since we do not have a mature demand response system, we have no option but to curtail supply.

Usually, during the afternoon, solar generation su...