India's battle against extreme heat has intensified, with a surge in nighttime air conditioner use driving up electricity consumption and challenging the country's renewable energy goals.
Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that summer nighttime temperatures in the world's most populous nation are rising nearly twice as fast as daytime temperatures, with many areas approaching 30 degrees Celsius after dark.
In Nagpur, a central Indian city, air conditioner retailer Rajesh Pakalwar reported a 50% jump in sales this year. "Even the ground is hot at night," he said. "We need better planning for extreme heat."
The IEA noted that India's peak nighttime electricity demand has surged by about 40% since 2019, reaching 252 gigawatts, with air conditioning accounting for up to one-third of total nighttime power use.
Climate change and the urban heat island effect, which raises nighttime temperatures, are common global challenges. However, India's population of 1.4 billion and the persistence of high temperatures late into the night make its predicament particularly severe.
The heat island effect is worsened by a scarcity of trees and cooling vegetation in cities, tall buildings that block air circulation, and heat emitted from air conditioner units.
India is rapidly expanding its solar power capacity. Supported by investments from major conglomerates like Adani Group and Tata Group, the country now ranks third globally in installed solar capacity. Data from green energy think tank Ember shows that solar power met 9.4% of India's total electricity demand in 2025.
Air conditioner use spikes daytime electricity demand, especially when summer temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius, a pressure that solar power has partially alleviated.
However, India's combined capacity from wind, nuclear, hydro, and battery storage is still insufficient to cover nighttime demand. This means more coal-fired power plants must be restarted after sunset.
"By evening... demand rises while solar generation drops sharply, exposing the shortfall in storage," said Debalmaya Sen, chair of the India Energy Storage Alliance.
Ember data indicates that thermal power, primarily coal, met nearly 80% of India's nighttime electricity demand during May and June, followed by low-carbon sources like hydro, wind, and nuclear.
At times, solar output is even curtailed during the day to ensure coal plants maintain a minimum operating load, keeping them ready to supply power at night.
Neshwin Rodrigues, a senior energy analyst at Ember, predicts that as more Indians buy air conditioners to cope with the heat, India's peak nighttime power demand will grow by at least 10 gigawatts by 2027, further straining the grid.
Voltas, a leading air conditioner brand under the Tata Group, reported selling 1 million units in the first three months of the financial year starting in April, achieving the milestone in record time.
At a busy electronics market in Delhi, retired government employee Jaseem Siddiqui was preparing to spend about 50,000 rupees ($524) on a third air conditioner for his home. "For the middle class like me, buying an AC is not an easy burden. But it's no longer a luxury for comfort; it's a necessity," he said while shopping with his wife.
IEA data shows that residential air conditioning is a major source of global electricity consumption, using about 1,500 terawatt-hours annually, compared to around 500 terawatt-hours for data centers.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. The country is investing billions of dollars in projects to more than double its non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by the end of this decade. It is also accelerating the deployment of battery storage systems to store wind and solar power for use at other times.
However, the IEA reports that India, the world's third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, is still building about 40 gigawatts of new coal-fired power plants to meet its growing round-the-clock electricity demand.
"We should expect these coal projects to be completed and play a significant role in the short term," said Thomas Spencer, a senior energy analyst at the IEA.
Experts say the core challenge remains insufficient renewable energy storage. Ember data shows that from late May to December last year, India had to curtail an average of 18% of its solar generation monthly due to limited grid absorption capacity, highlighting a weakness in the current system.
India's Central Electricity Authority estimates that the country's battery storage capacity needs to increase more than 27-fold, to 236 gigawatt-hours, by 2031-2032.
Falling battery prices over the past few years are helping India and other nations rapidly develop energy storage technologies.
"Hopefully, storage batteries, along with the coal projects under construction, will help us gradually address the nighttime power load issue," added Spencer of the IEA. India's Ministry of Power stated that the country's electricity supply remains "adequate" and that mechanisms are in place to manage rising summer demand.
But the trend of rising air conditioner use is set to continue. "When I was a child, people slept on terraces and in front of their houses at night, and that was enough to cool down," said Pakalwar, the Nagpur retailer. "Now, the heat is unbearable."
This article is sourced from Sina Finance.
Editor: Jiang Xuesi
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