NEW DELHI, June 28 (ANI) — India must urgently integrate climate resilience into its renewable energy planning to safeguard its expanding clean energy pipeline, according to a new report by Zurich Group.
The analysis, covering 871 renewable energy sites across ten states with a combined planned capacity of about 267 GW, found that nearly 90% of proposed projects face high or critical physical climate risk by 2030.
It stated that 66% of the assessed sites are already rated “critical” in terms of climate exposure within the same timeframe. “That is not a reason for alarm; it is a reason to act now,” the report noted.
Solar energy dominates the pipeline with 593 sites and 182,286 MW of capacity, accounting for nearly 70% of total assessed output. Wind projects comprise 230 sites and 44,177 MW, while hydropower contributes 48 sites with 40,188 MW.
Although fewer in number, hydropower projects were flagged as carrying disproportionately high financial exposure due to their capital-intensive nature.
The report identified tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and hail as the primary climate hazards affecting renewable infrastructure. It warned that hail poses a significant risk to solar installations, causing both immediate damage and longer-term performance degradation.
Wind projects face risks from extreme wind events, flooding, and intensifying monsoon and cyclone activity, while hydropower systems are increasingly vulnerable due to shifting and unpredictable hydrological patterns.
“To be effective, historical hydrology is a weak guide to future performance,” the report stated.
To address these risks, Zurich Group proposed five key measures, including mandatory climate risk screening during planning, prioritisation of high-risk assets for stress testing, hazard-specific resilience in procurement, integration of system-wide resilience, and improved financial quantification of resilience benefits.
The report estimated that investing around 2% of capital expenditure in resilience measures could reduce severe-loss exposure by up to 75%, representing an avoided-loss multiple of nearly 38 times.
A case study cited in the report showed that a 2.5 GW solar project without resilience measures had a Value at Risk of approximately USD 178.5 million. With the addition of a hail-storm tracking system, projected losses dropped to USD 43 million.
Although the resilience upgrade increased upfront costs by about USD 34 million—around 30% higher than a fixed-tilt system—the report concluded that such investments are financially justified.
“Resilience, embedded at the design stage, is not an additional cost. It is a practical enabler of bankable, insurable and sustainable energy infrastructure,” Zurich Group said. (ANI)
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