Indian ministry mandates energy storage colocation with solar

India’s Ministry of Power has mandated the inclusion of ESS alongside solar panels in future solar tenders held by state utilities and REIAs.

Tenders must insist on ESS with a capacity of at least 10% of the associated solar generation capacity and the ESS must offer at least two hours of storage capacity.

The ministry said the energy storage mandate would help mitigate intermittent generation from solar projects and provide grid support during peak electricity demand periods. It added, electricity distribution companies could consider a similar mandate for rooftop solar installations.

The government expects 14 GW/28 GWh of energy storage capacity to be installed by 2030 with the help of the mandate as the country aims for 500 GW of non-fossil-fuel generation capacity by the same deadline.

India had 110 MW of battery energy storage systems at the end of 2024, and 4.75 GW of pumped hydro energy storage.

The National Electricity Plan published by the Central Electricity Authority expects India will need 47.24 GW/236.22 GWh of batteries and 26.69 GW/175.18 GWh of pumped hydro by 2031-32, to even out generation from an anticipated 364 GW of solar and 121 GW of wind generation capacity by that point.

From pv magazine India.