India’s Renewable Energy (RE) sector is a key market for global investors, offering a potential of over 1000 GW and an investment opportunity of over USD 20 Billion (Bn) annually.
At 89 GW, India has the 5th largest installed capacity globally, along with the 4th largest for wind and 5th largest for solar energy.
Solar energy is already contributing around 2.8 percent of global electricity and if trends were to continue, by 2030, solar will become the most important source of energy for electricity production in large parts of the world.
With a rise in the need for solar energy, storage would play a very vital role in ensuring the flexible operations of the power systems.
India, with its ambitious renewable energy targets, is already shifting its focus towards storage-based projects to tackle the intermittency of the power generated through clean energy sources.
India’s energy storage market, which was USD 2.1 Bn in 2019, will translate to 230 GWh during the 2020-27 period.
This, coupled with the increased focus of the government in achieving its 2022 target of 100 GW solar capacity and 60 GW capacity of wind power, will further propel the energy storage market in India.
Between 2018 and 2020, energy storage tenders of 169 MWh capacity have been issued by the government. In addition to this, SECI released two more solar tenders with 3,900 MWh of storage capacity.
With India’s growing demand for energy and the need for clean energy sources, it is important to have a regular supply of renewable generated power. Therefore, battery storage is one sector that becomes increasingly vital for the country.
By 2040, India is touted to become the largest market for utility scale energy storage.
This article is based on inputs from Investment Specialist associated with government of India’s “Invest India” Initiative