With a remarkable increase of Renewable Energy share from 29.44% in 2014 to 43.12% in 2024, and corresponding CAGR of 9.94% of RE against 2.88% CAGR of non-RE, India’s renewable energy journey deserves to be described in superlatives. We are home to the world’s largest solar parks, among the fastest-growing wind markets, and we have pledged an ambitious target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. With brilliant programmes like National Solar Mission / PM Kusum, National Green Hydrogen Mission, PM Surya Ghar and PLI schemes for Solar modules being driven towards this milestone, the journey is inspiring, but it is also incomplete. Because while generation capacity grows, the backbone of a truly reliable renewable energy system i.e., Energy Storage Systems (ESS) is still nascent.
Without it, India risks building a clean energy edifice on shaky foundations. With it, we have the chance to leapfrog into an era of reliable and day cycle independent green power.
The Intermittency Challenge
Unlike coal or gas plants that can be ramped up on demand, renewable sources are bound by nature’s rhythm. Solar panels are idle at night, and wind turbines fall silent on still days. Today, much of this variability is managed by thermal plants, which step in to balance the grid. But relying completely on fossil fuels to back up renewables defeats the purpose of a clean energy transition, necessitating the space for innovative energy storage solutions.
Recent study indicates that by 2030, India would need about 38 GW of four-hour storage battery and 9 GW of thermal balancing power projects for the cost-efficient and reliable integrations of 450 GW of renewables.
Among all Energy Storage Systems, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) offer a breakthrough. They capture excess renewable power when it is abundant and feed it back into the grid when demand spikes. In doing so, they make intermittent energy firm, dispatchable, and grid-friendly. Imagine a future where the solar power harvested during the day lights up cities at midnight and powers factories running in night shifts. That is the transformative potential of energy storage systems.
A Global Shift India Cannot Miss
Globally, storage deployment has already reached an inflection point. China added about 37 GW of storage capacity in 2024 alone, while the U.S. has seen utility-scale storage become integral to new solar projects. For these countries, storage is no longer an add-on, it is part of the core energy infrastructure.
India, by contrast, has just a few hundred megawatt-hours of operational BESS today. But momentum is building. The government’s decision to provide viability gap funding for 4,000 MWh of projects marks a turning point. Coupled with the 90% fall in lithium-ion battery prices over the last decade, the economics of storage are becoming compelling. Private utilities, too, are piloting storage-linked renewables to serve commercial and industrial consumers seeking reliable green power.
The signs are clear: India is poised for a storage boom. The question is whether we can scale fast enough.
Beyond Balancing the Grid
The promise of storage extends well beyond grid balancing. It can reshape India’s energy landscape in three powerful ways:
Energy Access for All
Rural and remote communities often wait years for transmission lines to arrive. With solar-plus-storage mini-grids, villages can leapfrog to reliable electricity, powering schools, clinics, and small businesses.
A Boost to Electric Mobility
India’s EV ecosystem is already investing heavily in battery supply chains. The same infrastructure – cell manufacturing, recycling, R&D, can accelerate stationary storage adoption, creating powerful synergies across sectors.
National Energy Security
By reducing our dependence on imported coal and gas, and by ensuring renewable energy is available around the clock, storage strengthens India’s strategic resilience. In a world of volatile geopolitics and supply shocks, this is not just an environmental priority but a national imperative.
In short, batteries are not just about electrons, they are about empowerment, equity, and resilience.
What Will It Take?
For India to seize this opportunity, three priorities must guide the road ahead:
- Domestic Manufacturing at Scale: The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced chemistry cells is a crucial first step. But we must go further, developing robust domestic supply chains for raw materials, fostering joint ventures, and investing in battery recycling to reduce dependence on imports. The aim, therefore, shall be to attain “Sampoorna Atmanirbharta” through comprehensive indigenization of every component/system of the supply chain.
- Innovative Financing Models: Storage is capital-intensive, and bankability remains a hurdle. Creative financing – green bonds, blended finance, and pay-for-performance models – can help de-risk projects. A clear regulatory framework for ancillary services and time-of-day pricing will further unlock investments.
- Technology Diversity and R&D: While lithium-ion is dominant today, it is not the only path forward. Flow batteries, sodium-ion, solid state/semi-solid-state batteries, and even green hydrogen-based storage could play roles in India’s future energy mix. Betting on multiple horses will reduce risks and encourage homegrown innovation.
Completing the Story
India’s renewable energy story is, at its heart, about ambition and possibility. We have the scale, the demand, and the political will to lead the world in clean energy. But ambition without storage risks creating a brittle system, one vulnerable to blackouts and inefficiencies.
The coming decade must therefore be about more than just adding solar panels and wind turbines. It must be about building the invisible infrastructure, the batteries, that give renewables their staying power.
Battery storage is not merely a technical solution. It is the missing link that will complete India’s clean energy narrative. It is the bridge between aspiration and achievement, between megawatts generated and megawatts delivered, between an energy transition promised and an energy transition realized.
Every ambitious step to move multiple steps higher in a short time comes with a penalty, if the transition is not managed well. With the rising demand for Lithium-ion based storage systems, an equally significant concern is their disposal and the potential environmental hazards they pose. Lithium-ion battery recycling, therefore, bears not only economic but also environmental significance. While working for BESS, India should nurture the technologies for environmental friendly ways of recycling Li-ion batteries.
If India can lead in storage as it has in renewables, it won’t just meet its 2030 targets, it will redefine what energy independence looks like in the 21st century.
