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The momentum propelling India’s transformation to sustainable energy is picking up. The policy change is visible, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vow at COP26 to attain 500 GW of non-fossil fuel installed electrical capacity by 2030 to the green push in the Budget and the implementation of the first phase of the Green Hydrogen program.
With all the initiatives and commitments the energy future is promising, but it will need a sustained and hard multi-stakeholder effort.
Energy storage, as correctly noted by the Centre, is a critical link in the energy value chain. This is essential because India intends to expand renewable energy (RE) output from 12-13 percent to more than a third of overall power in order to satisfy its climate targets.
Because RE is susceptible to natural fluctuations, we require special flexible storage strategies to absorb, store and then employ the stored electricity as required by the grid.
The battery is becoming increasingly important in grid management and planning by system operators/distribution utilities at the transmission, distribution, and generating nodes across the globe.
Inequalities in demand and supply occur on a seasonal and daily basis. While market dynamics are best suited to meet seasonal demands, battery storage must manage daily fluctuations.
Battery storage is typically utilized to fulfil three fundamental applications, energy shifting or arbitrage, frequency response management, and mid/long term energy storage.
In India, there will be huge prospects for battery storage needs in electrified mobility as well as stationary storage necessities. According to NITI Aayog, India’s battery storage industry is predicted to exceed 1000 GWh by 2030, resulting in a cumulative market size of $250 billion, up from an insignificant amount today.
Power sector consumption alone is estimated to be close to 150GWh out of the 1000 GWh, translating to approximately $60 billion in capital expenditure in projects. Over the next five to six years, invest roughly around $16.5 billion will be required in production to deploy a total of 1000 GWh capacity.
While the PLI system has fully handled cell production and the refining of raw materials for use in batteries, however, the primary difficulty will be gaining control of raw material supplies such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt.
As India revamps its whole power infrastructure, it will require a comprehensive suite of storage solutions to satisfy various demands across different areas for various industries and consumers in order to efficiently get towards net-zero.
