For the first time, the Indian government has added an energy storage obligation to its renewable energy purchase obligations. Meanwhile, a country agency predicts that by 2030, India will have 180GWh of battery storage systems planned.
India's Ministry of Electricity last week issued an order amending the tariff policy surrounding the Renewable Energy Procurement Obligation (RPO), through which entities such as distribution licensees must ensure that a portion of the electricity used must come from renewable energy sources .
In addition to certain parameters governing the eligibility of energy storage systems, the Government of India has determined that large-scale pumped hydro storage (PHES) generation facilities with an installed capacity of more than 25MW are classified as renewable energy procurement obligations under a separate hydropower procurement obligation ( part of the RPO).
By 2030, the total purchase obligation of wind power, pumped storage power generation facilities and other renewable energy will reach 43.33%, of which wind power will account for 6.94%, hydropower will account for 2.82%, and other renewable energy will account for 33.57%.
The Energy Storage Obligation (ESO) stipulates that between 2023 and 2024, the proportion of total energy consumed by solar or wind power facilities or through energy storage systems should be set at 1%. And gradually rise to 4% in 2030.
The order is the latest step in the Indian government's campaign to target a total of 500GW of cumulative installed non-fossil fuel power generation capacity by 2030, including 450GW of wind and solar power, which has now surpassed 150GW.
The Central Electricity Authority of India has previously determined that this will require the deployment of around 28GW/108GWh of energy storage systems to be integrated into the grid.
However, the Energy Storage Alliance of India (IESA) has modelled demand for battery storage systems of 160GWh or more by then, and according to projections by the Indian government think tank NITI Aayog, the demand could be higher.
The total potential total demand for batteries in India from 2021 to 2030 is expected to be 600GWh: various types of electric vehicles (EVs) occupy the largest share at 380.6GWh, the total grid-side application is 136.4GWh, and the user-side application is 46.5GWh, The consumer electronics demand battery is expected to be about 36.4GWh.
