Neeraj Kuldeep, Karthik Ganesan, Vaibhav Gupta, Aditya Ramji, Kanika Chawla, Manu Aggarwal
November 2016 | Technology Futures
Suggested Citation: Kuldeep, Neeraj, Karthik Ganesan, Vaibhav Gupta, Aditya Ramji, Kanika Chawla, and Manu Aggarwal. 2016. Energy Storage in India: Applications in the Renewable Energy Segment. New Delhi: Council on Energy, Environment and Water.
This report provides an overview of the Indian energy storage market for off-grid solar, examines multiple storage technologies under development, and assesses opportunities arising due to the rapid adoption of off-grid renewable energy. It also highlights key challenges for battery manufacturers such as high technology costs, and uncertainty around performance in Indian climatic conditions.
The Indian Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), in 2013, estimated that by 2020, the market potential in India for energy storage systems in renewable energy applications alone would be in the vicinity of 6000 MW. The potential for energy storage has been revised to about 15 – 20 GW by 2020 after the renewable energy target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 was set. Furthermore, India’s commitment to the UNFCCC in October 2015 projects 40 per cent of the electricity capacity in 2030 to be non-fossil. The role of energy storage, in an energy mix that includes significant contributions from solar and wind power, cannot be emphasised enough.
The total market for batteries for off-grid RE in petrol pumps across India is estimated to be around INR 2.6 billion. (Wikimedia Commons)
Energy storage technologies provide flexibility in the use of electricity, for both centralised and decentralised supply provisions. Conventional use of storage systems by way of batteries (in electronic goods, vehicles) and accumulators (inverters and other electricity backup solutions) have been driven by commercial and technological considerations (and requirements), with little policy directive to incentivise the use of these novel solutions.