India joins Battery Energy Storage Systems Consortium for RE integration

India on Monday became a member of the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Consortium, an initiative led by The Global Leadership Council (GLC) of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP).

As part of this collaborative effort, India stands among the pioneering nations committed to securing 5 Gw of BESS commitments by the conclusion of 2024.

In September, the government endorsed viability gap funding for BESS development. The scheme aims to facilitate establishing 4,000 Mwh of BESS projects by 2030-31, providing financial assistance of up to 40 per cent of the capital cost through budgetary support in the form of VGF.

“The expansion of BESS is crucial in bringing down the high cost to resolve the issue of intermittency and lead to accelerated RE (renewable energy) integration. It would also help fast-track innovative regulations, which will unlock the value streams on batteries and provide much-needed balancing support to the grid. This would positively impact the demand for RE, which is imperative for a net zero future,” said Saurabh Kumar, vice-president (India), GEAPP.

According the “Powering Progress: Batteries for Discoms - A Market Action Report on Accelerating Battery Energy Storage in India”, approximately 42 Gw (208 Gwh) of BESS would be required to integrate 392 Gw of VRE (100 Gw of wind and 292 Gw of solar) by 2030. It also found that integrating increasing amounts of VRE resources, mainly solar and wind, to be a major factor driving grid storage adoption.

During the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), GEAPP announced the expansion of the BESS project in India, which aims to achieve the target of 1 Gw for discoms under BESS by 2026.

IndiGrid, a power sector infrastructure investment trust, was awarded its first BESS project to design, supply, test, install, commission, operate, and maintain a 20 Mw/40 Mwh in Delhi.

The GEAPP, an alliance of philanthropy, governments, technology, policy, and financing partners, aims to provide concessional debt financing for 70 per cent of the total capital investment and technical assistance for the project.

The GEAPP will continue to work on a scale-up plan with discoms to achieve the target of 200 Mw by providing technical assistance and concessional funding.

Barbados, Belize, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Togo are the other first-mover countries that have committed to the BESS Consortium with Indonesia showing a strong interest. In order to achieve the estimated 400 Gw of renewable energy needed to alleviate energy poverty by 2030, and save a gigaton of carbon dioxide, 90 Gw of storage capacity must be developed.

The BESS Consortium’s initial 5 Gw goal will help create a road map for achieving the rest by 2030.

What it means

- Committed to securing 5 Gw of BESS commitments by 2024

- Aims to facilitate establishment of 4,000 Mwh of BESS projects by 2030-31 

- Providing financial assistance of up to 40% of the capital cost through budgetary support in the form of viability gap funding

- About 42 Gw of BESS would be required to integrate 392 Gw of VRE by 2030