India's Power Ministry Empowers Renewable Storage Growth

The Union power ministry urges states to waive free power demands on pumped storage projects, aiming to boost energy storage with policy measures. A CII report emphasizes storage's role in renewable energy transformation. Upcoming battery storage tenders and tax recommendations feature in strategies for net-zero goals.

The Union power ministry of India has directed states to refrain from demanding free power from pumped storage projects (PSPs), according to a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report on India's clean energy storage outlook.

This marks a significant deviation from the usual practice of states receiving a percentage of generated electricity at no charge, as part of the government's strategy to foster growth in the energy storage sector alongside increasing renewable capacity.

Energy storage is pivotal in stabilizing renewable power into a 24/7 option, and officials are transitioning from financial to economic analyses for PSPs to drive growth.

Nagulapalli announced that battery energy storage system (BESS) tenders would be released next year under the viability gap funding scheme. The Central Electricity Authority is examining 60 GW of projects scheduled for completion in six to eight years.

The CII's workshop unveiled the "India's Outlook on Clean Energy Storage: A Roadmap to Net Zero" analysis detailing the state of energy storage systems in India, highlighting challenges and proposing solutions.

Chairman Vikram Handa projected a 12-fold market growth by 2030 due to the technology's efficiency and low costs, despite challenges like capital costs and raw material vulnerabilities. The analysis encourages a circular economy approach for batteries.

The report covers various storage technologies, their cost-effectiveness, and offers recommendations like tax holidays and GST reductions across advanced battery chemistries to promote widespread adoption. It stresses removing double taxation on power used for charging ESS as merely facilitating energy conversion.

(With inputs from agencies.)