India to increase renewable energy storage capacity to 6 GW by fiscal 2028: Report

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, August 14 (IANS) India’s renewable energy (RE) storage capacity is expected to increase by 6 GW by fiscal 2028 from less than 1 GW in operation in March 2024.

The increase is due to the high number of projects underway and the expected healthy pace of auctions, the report said on Wednesday.

According to Crisil Ratings, “Storage is becoming crucial as the share of renewables – both solar and wind – in the overall power generation mix increases. This is because renewable generation is by nature concentrated, occurring at specific times of the day. For example, solar generation occurs mostly during the day. Such a generation profile does not suit demand, which usually peaks in the morning and evening.”

To address this issue, the government is working to develop the necessary infrastructure through standalone storage systems (such as pumped-storage hydropower plants or battery storage systems) and storage-linked projects that combine renewable energy generation with storage, the report said.

The frequency of auctions for such projects has been increased.

Over the past two fiscal years, approximately 3 GW of standalone storage systems and approximately 10 GW of storage-linked projects have been auctioned, comprising approximately 2 GW of resources (compared to less than 1 GW previously), resulting in a solid offering of approximately 6 GW of storage resources (as of May 2024).

Manish Gupta, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings, said, “However, progress in implementation has been delayed. Slow implementation by state-owned distribution companies (discoms) has been a key deterrent to implementation, with 60-65 per cent of such projects not having signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) by May 2024.”

The government aims to increase renewable energy capacity to 450 GW by 2030 from 130 GW in March 2024.

To promote this, renewable energy purchasing obligations (RPO) have been introduced for distribution companies.

They must increase their share of renewable energy from about 25 percent currently to 39 percent by fiscal year 2028.

This means that distribution companies will have to buy more energy from renewable sources, and as its share increases, more emphasis will be placed on storage, which is necessary to balance the grid.

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