The present capacity of solar energy storage in the country is 750 kWh, according to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
Energy storage projects worth ₹115.8 million (~$1.66 million) have been sanctioned under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)’s research and development programme during the last four years, said Union Power Minister RK Singh.
MNRE has also released a corpus of ₹48.2 million (~$0.7 million) for the energy storage projects, Singh revealed while responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, MERCOM India reported.
Quoting the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), Singh also stated that the present capacity of solar energy storage in the country is 750 kWh.
Singh was also quoted as saying, “Absorption of renewables into the grid is presently managed through forecasting and scheduling of power generation and using other sources of energy for balancing. Storage is an important component of the balancing requirement and its role is likely to increase with the increase in renewable energy.”
Energy storage is key component missing in India’s energy infrastructure strategy and is crucial to sustain India’s transformation from fossil fuels to renewables.
Considering its importance, the government had earlier this year announced the establishment of a National Energy Storage Mission (NESM) to focus on indigenous manufacturing of energy storage facilities.
National Energy Storage Mission
“Under this mission, the government is focusing on demand creation, indigenous manufacturing, innovation and energy storage,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during the inauguration of the RE Invest.
The National Energy Storage Mission was first announced in February of this year by an MNRE-convened expert committee, which led to a draft document published in August, created by NITI Aayog – (the National Institution for Transforming India) and US think-tank Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI).
The NESM is yet to get final approvals from PMO. However, it is expected to be launched before the end of the year.
