BESS in India’s renewable energy transition

• The climate crisis has shifted the focus of energy security to four key aspects: availability, accessibility, affordability, and environmental acceptability.

• Renewables have become an energy source that offers affordable power with lower emissions, making them crucial for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7.

• The intermittent nature of renewable energy makes increasing renewable energy capacity unsuitable.

• Energy storage technologies like Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) offer a solution to mitigate renewable energy variability and enhance grid stability.

• BESS is critical for enhancing grid operations, integrating large-scale renewables, and providing reliable power.

• BESS plays a foundational role across all forms of energy storage, stabilizing the grid, balancing demand-supply fluctuations, and enabling peak load management.

• Despite its potential, utilisation of BESS is hindered by regulatory, technical, financial, and market barriers.

• India can lead in BESS deployment through a combination of financing and policy measures. The government has committed to installing 47 GW of BESS by 2032 to enable increased renewable deployment and its integration with the grid.

• The BESS pilot project in Delhi, initiated by BSES Rajdhani Private Limited in partnership with IndiGrid Infrastructure Trust and Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), is a significant step forward towards India’s goal of 47 GW of energy storage by 2030.

• India is emerging as a leader in renewable energy deployment, but the full potential of renewable energy cannot be achieved without energy storage.

• With partnerships, large-scale BESS projects, concessional financing, technological aid, manufacturing localisation, and recycling opportunities, India can utilize BESS to its fullest extent.