Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

@article{194233,
        author = {Harsh Chauhan and Smitrajsinh Rathod and Dhruvin Lad and Krish Mehta and Prof. Rachana Patel},
        title = {Navigating the 500 GW Goal: India's Smart Grid Renewable Integration},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {10},
        pages = {2984-2994},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=194233},
        abstract = {The integration of renewable energy (RE) into the country's power infrastructure has become a top priority as India moves closer to its grand aim of reaching 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. In 2025, the nation's installed power capacity will surpass 440 GW, of which 190 to 195 GW will come from renewable sources. This will put the traditional power grid under unprecedented operational strain. Significant technical difficulties, such as voltage fluctuations, harmonic distortions, and the requirement for reactive power compensation, are brought about by the intrinsic variability, inconsistency, and fast-ramping nature of solar and wind power. In the context of India, this paper provides a thorough analysis of the shift from traditional unidirectional networks to sophisticated smart grids.
This study assesses the effectiveness of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Outage Management Systems (OMS), and real-time distribution transformer monitoring in reducing high Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses and facilitating demand-side management by examining actual deployments, most notably the Pondicherry Smart Grid Pilot Project. The review also discusses the technical and socioeconomic implementation barriers, including high capital costs, insufficient infrastructure, and growing cyber security vulnerabilities. The vital role of reliable Energy Storage Systems (ESS), especially the national Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) scheme and pumped hydro storage, is examined in order to combat the unpredictability of RE generation. In order to achieve a safe, flexible, and self healing smart grid ecosystem in India, this paper concludes that the collaborative application of artificial intelligence (AI) for load forecasting, scalable digital infrastructure, and proactive regulatory policies is essential.},
        keywords = {Smart Grid, Renewable Energy Integration, Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Artificial Intelligence, Demand Response, Distributed Energy Resources, Volt-VAR Optimization.},
        month = {March},
        }