The BES 2026 session, titled “Electrification at Scale: Power trading systems and growth trajectories for a low-carbon future”, featured a panel comprising Sonam Tobjey, Chief Executive Officer, Bhutan Power Corporation Limited; Harish Saran, Managing Director (MD), Hindustan Power Exchange; Neha Aggarwal, MD, Arunachal Pradesh Power Corporation Private Limited; Shailendra Shukla, MD, Mobility Group, India, Eaton Industrial Systems; and Vishal Vij, Head, Energy Services, Tata Power Trading Company Limited. The session was moderated by Krithika P.R., Program Lead, International Council on Clean Transportation. Key takeaways from the session…
Power trading, electrification and low-carbon growth are becoming increasingly intertwined as electricity systems expand in scale and complexity. In the regional context, cross-border power cooperation is acquiring greater strategic importance. India’s electricity trade with neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan has gradually evolved into a more structured framework, strengthening both technical integration and commercial engagement. For Bhutan in particular, this marks an important transition. Early hydropower cooperation with India was shaped by financing constraints and limited market access, but over time the relationship has deepened through multiple transmission interconnections and closer operational linkages.
Alongside these regional shifts, rising electricity demand within India is placing new pressure on distribution systems. Demand growth of around 6-6.5 per cent annually, combined with the rapid expansion of electric mobility, is expected to alter load patterns significantly over the coming years. Electric vehicle penetration, projected to rise sharply by 2030, could add another 10-12 GW of load to the grid. This creates a direct challenge for distribution utilities, many of which are already operating under network stress. The scale of the issue becomes clearer when viewed at the charger level itself. A single fast charger can impose a load of 25-50 kW, comparable to several households, making unmanaged clustering a serious operational concern.
Daytime renewable output is creating periods of relatively cheaper electricity, yet end users, including EV consumers, often have limited ability to respond to those price signals. A more dynamic framework, including time-of-day tariffs, could help shift charging demand to off-peak and solar-rich hours, flatten demand curves and improve renewable integration. Power exchanges are central to this transition. Since their introduction, they have brought greater flexibility to India’s electricity market and have generated the price discovery needed for a more competitive system.
The electrification challenge, however, is not only about tariffs and market access. On the ground, EV adoption continues to face practical constraints that slow uptake despite strong policy momentum. Charging infrastructure remains inadequate in many places, and even where it exists, interoperability remains uneven across vehicle categories, charging systems and geographies. Concerns around range and charging time also continue to influence user behaviour, although these constraints are expected to ease with technological progress. What is becoming increasingly clear is that infrastructure deployment alone will not be sufficient. More integrated approaches will be needed, including building-level energy management, better coordination between renewable and grid supply, and digital systems capable of optimising how electricity is consumed, stored and dispatched.
At the same time, the rapid growth of solar power is introducing a fresh layer of complexity into grid management. Rising rooftop and distributed solar penetration is already resulting in reverse power flows in some parts of the network, even as distribution infrastructure upgrades lag behind. This raises broader questions about how utilities will manage changing load shapes, voltage behaviour and system stability in a more decentralised electricity environment. This is likely to create space for mechanisms such as virtual power purchase agreements and other market-based structures that can connect clean generation more credibly with emerging sources of demand.
Looking ahead, the interaction between transport electrification, market design and grid flexibility is likely to define the next phase of power sector development. Solutions such as vehicle-to-grid systems, battery energy storage and aggregator-led demand management are already entering the conversation, even if commercial and operational challenges remain. The larger point is that electrification at scale will require coordinated progress across generation, transmission and distribution, supported by enabling regulation, technology deployment and sustained capital investment.
