Energy Storage in India’s Solar Transition

India’s solar expansion is impressive, but limited storage capacity restricts utilisation, leading to curtailment and reducing the efficiency of renewable energy.

Need for Energy Storage in India’s Solar Transition

Load Balancing: Storage enables shifting solar power from midday peak (21.5% supply) to evening demand, where the contribution drops to just 0.1%.
Curtailment Reduction: With 2.3 TWh of solar curtailment in 2025, storage can absorb excess generation, preventing wastage and financial losses.
Grid Stability: Battery systems help avoid instability that forces solar-rich states to halt supply, ensuring smoother integration into the national grid.
Demand Resilience: During extreme weather, storage ensures a reliable supply when monsoon variability (92% LPA forecast) increases evening electricity demand.

Current Facts and Data

Capacity Growth: Solar capacity rose to 28%, but generation remains low at 10–11%.
Load Imbalance: Solar met 21.5% of the afternoon demand but only 0.1% of the evening demand.
Power Curtailment: India curtailed 2.3 TWh of solar power in 2025, resulting in waste and costs.
Storage Deficit: Only 0.7 GWh of storage capacity is operational, significantly limiting effective renewable energy integration.

Flagship Government Schemes and Policy Interventions

PM-KUSUM Expansion: Aims to solarise agricultural pumps with 40 GW capacity by 2027, promoting rural energy self-reliance and farmer income.
PLI Manufacturing: Aims to boost domestic high-efficiency solar module production, reducing import dependence and strengthening India’s solar supply chain.
PM Surya Ghar: Aims to provide rooftop solar to 1 crore households, enhancing affordable clean energy access and reducing electricity bills.
Solar Parks Mission: Aims to develop 40 GW solar capacity through large-scale parks, ensuring efficient land use and faster project execution.
Floating Solar Push: Aims to expand floating solar capacity, such as the 600 MW Omkareshwar project, utilising water bodies to reduce land constraints.

Policy and Execution Gaps

Slow Deployment: Only 0.7 GWh battery storage operational in 2025 despite rising solar capacity reaching ~28% share.
Fragmented Planning: Solar and storage projects are often tendered separately, leading to inefficiencies and limiting the effectiveness of grid integration.
Financing Stress: Aggressively bid low-tariff solar projects struggle to be viable as storage needs long-term, assured revenue models.
Weak Mandates: The lack of compulsory co-located storage in solar tenders results in 2.3 TWh of curtailment and wasted energy in 2025.

Building a Storage-Centric Energy System

Storage Mandate: Make co-located battery storage compulsory with solar projects to reduce curtailment losses and ensure a reliable dispatchable renewable power supply.
Grid Expansion: Scale up utility-scale BESS and pumped hydro storage from 0.7 GWh to meet evening peak demand and improve grid reliability.
Market Integration: Develop real-time electricity markets enabling price arbitrage between midday solar surplus and evening peak demand for efficient grid balancing.
Financial Support: Provide long-term contracts, viability gap funding, and payment security mechanisms to de-risk storage investments despite falling battery tariffs.
Institutional Coordination: Strengthen Centre-State coordination, aligning transmission planning with storage deployment to reduce curtailment and ensure seamless renewable energy integration.

India’s solar future needs storage for round-the-clock power, reduced losses, and 2030 targets, echoing PM Modi’s “energy security and sustainability” vision.

Reference: The Hindu

PMF IAS Pathfinder for Mains – Question 671

Q. India’s rapid expansion of renewable energy has underscored the critical importance of energy storage to ensure grid stability and a reliable power supply. Critically examine the challenges in scaling energy storage infrastructure in India and suggest measures for seamless renewable energy integration. (250 Words) (15 Marks)

Approach

Introduction: Write a brief introduction about energy storage in India.
Body: Write about the importance of energy storage, mention key challenges in scaling energy storage infrastructure in India and suggest measures for seamless renewable energy integration.
Conclusion: Emphasis on an integrated planning and grid expansion to ensure seamless renewable energy integration.