From pv magazine India
With peak power demand expected to approach 300 GW in the coming years and electricity demand growing at 6% to 7% annually, India will require nearly 230 GWh of energy storage capacity by 2030 to ensure grid stability, flexibility and reliability, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, former secretary at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), said at the recent Indian Power and Energy Storage Conference 2025.
He said renewables now account for 26% of total electricity generation, with a record high of 51% renewable generation on a single day this year. As India advances toward its target of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, he said energy storage is emerging as a critical enabler of grid stability, flexibility and round-the-clock reliability alongside capacity additions.
The conference brought together policymakers, regulators and industry executives to map a pathway for renewable integration while managing thermal generation assets. It was supported by the MNRE and the Central Electricity Authority.
R. P. V. Prasad, managing director of Envision Energy India, said India is entering a phase of accelerated battery and energy storage deployment aligned with the 500 GW renewable target. He said falling battery prices, fast-charging ecosystems and policy support could allow storage to shift from a balancing tool to a core grid resource.
Prasad cautioned against ultra-low bidding and weak technical standards, calling for stronger safety frameworks, global best practices and diversified use cases. He said energy storage should be allowed to stack revenues across grid services, demand response and ancillary markets, while longer-duration solutions develop to deliver baseload-like reliability.
Ashish Mittal, director of energy and commodities at CRISIL, said energy storage has become a defining theme in India’s power sector, with more than 212 GWh of capacity tendered over the past five to six years. He said achieving the 500 GW non-fossil target will require coordinated national and state-level regulatory frameworks that provide long-term investor confidence.
Mittal said funding mechanisms such as cap-and-floor structures, viability gap funding and storage-as-a-service models will be critical to reducing risk and mobilizing private capital.
Ashok Sharma, deputy managing director at State Bank of India, said energy storage projects require a shift in how risks are assessed and capital is deployed, given their capital-intensive nature and battery-heavy cost structures.
Sharma said India must accelerate domestic manufacturing while remaining technology-agnostic, combining batteries, pumped storage and emerging technologies to build long-term, resilient infrastructure.
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