India Energy Week 2023: Battery power storage needs a revolution to push India's green mission: Amitabh Kant

However, operating performance took a hit as depreciation expenses and other income increased in the quarter

G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant on February 7 said India would need a revolution in battery energy storage manufacturing to reach the target of having 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Speaking at the ongoing India Energy Week in Bengaluru, Kant emphasised on the need for battery energy storage systems across all sectors – electricity distribution, transportation and industrial.

The government's push for green power and green economy reflected in the February 1 Budget speech of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.  “This is the first Budget which is so strongly vocal about green growth. It’s put in huge amount of resources - Rs 35,000 crore - into green initiatives,” Kant said.

“The energy transition that we are pushing for is not just about renewables. Renewable are just one component of the story. It’s about renewables need to be stored. Energy storage is key and the ability to do 24/7, round-the-clock great management through renewables is really the key story,” he said.

“You need batteries even for two-wheelers and three-wheelers. Therefore, you would need a massive revolution in terms of battery manufacturing in India. You need a million fast chargers. On the other side, you need to push for massive decarbonisation to green hydrogen, pump storage, which will enable you to not use battery but to be able to do that transformation and that is where the real disruption by young entrepreneurs in India will matter.”

To boost battery energy storage systems (BESS), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on February 1 that such projects will be offered viability gap funding (VGF) for a total capacity of 4,000 MWh. Sitharaman also said that a policy framework for pumped storage plants is in the works but did not share details.

Battery storage, or battery energy storage systems (BESS), are devices that enable energy from renewables, like solar and wind, to be stored and released when power demand peaks.

As India scales up its renewable energy capacity, battery storage systems are gaining importance as a solution to reduce the intermittency of renewable energy projects to provide continuous power.