To support India’s clean energy ambitions, insurance needs to evolve beyond a mere financial requirement to a form of risk intelligence. Brokers play a crucial role in this transformation, needing to distil intricate engineering and climate data into insurance structures
India’s journey towards renewable energy has entered a pivotal phase, where addressing risks has become crucial. By June 2026, the nation had achieved an impressive 288.6 GW of renewable capacity, with solar contributing 162.2 GW and wind 57.4 GW. This milestone not only surpasses its goal of 50% non-fossil power by 2030 but also highlights the country’s commitment to a sustainable future, as reported by the Ministry of New and Renewable
However, a report from Zurich Resilience Solutions in July 2026 raised some alarms. It indicated that 90% of planned renewable projects across 871 sites might face significant climate risks by 2030. The encouraging part is that with targeted resilience measures, these potential climate-related losses could drop from $55 billion to $27 billion. This is a critical juncture for India to bolster its renewable energy initiatives and ensure they are robust against looming challenges.
The insurance landscape is evolving as well. It is no longer just about safeguarding solar panels, wind turbines, or construction equipment from physical damage. As renewable projects expand in size and become more interconnected, they are increasingly vulnerable to climate events. A single cyclone, flood, or hailstorm can impact numerous assets, contractors, and transmission links in the same region, creating accumulation risks for insurers and potentially amplifying losses for developers.
This evolving risk scenario is significant because renewable infrastructure is built around delicate project economics. A lengthy outage is not simply a matter of repair costs; it can lead to lost energy generation, delayed debt repayments, and renegotiated contracts. Thus, the conversation around insurance needs to transition from merely protecting assets to safeguarding the very economics of these projects.
Climate exposure starts before construction
It is vital to recognise that climate exposure can begin long before construction starts. The most impactful insurance decisions are often made before securing a policy. Site selection, drainage design, equipment elevation, and even fire protection plays critical roles in shaping a project’s risk profile. The recent Zurich assessment underscores that resilience can substantially alter how climate risks are viewed economically.
For developers, this means integrating climate risk analysis into the early stages of engineering and financing. For brokers, it requires ensuring that risk information reaches underwriters in a way that mirrors the actual design and operating environment of each project. Improved information flow can differentiate between risks that are broadly imprecise and those that are well-understood.
New technologies are creating new underwriting questions
India’s renewable energy landscape is becoming more technology-driven, introducing new underwriting challenges. As battery energy storage systems gain importance alongside solar and wind resources, they also bring forth risks that traditional power policies were not designed to cover. Issues like thermal events, system integration failures, and long-term performance concerns necessitate more specialized underwriting approaches. Additionally, the rise of digital monitoring and remote controls adds layers of complexity, exposing assets to cyber risks in an industry historically focused on physical challenges.
As a result, insurers cannot depend solely on historical claims data when many of the technologies currently deployed are new. Underwriting will increasingly hinge on engineering data, technology standards, operating procedures, and the quality of risk management.
Insurance must become part of project architecture
To support India’s clean energy ambitions, insurance needs to evolve beyond a mere financial requirement to a form of risk intelligence. Brokers play a crucial role in this transformation, needing to distil intricate engineering and climate data into insurance structures that work financially, while also helping developers identify opportunities to mitigate risks rather than exclusively transferring them.
This shift opens avenues for more advanced solutions, including coverage linked to business interruption, performance, and, where applicable, measurable weather triggers. Such products should enhance, not replace, sound project design. The goal is not to provide insurance for inadequate infrastructure but to make resilience a visible and economically viable priority.
