By Nethra Sailesh
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) issued an advisory asking for Energy Storage Systems (ESS) to be installed as a requirement at new solar project sites across the country. This was issued keeping in mind India’s goal of increasing our non-fossil fuel capacity to 500 GW by 2030.
The CEA advises the government on policy-making, development, and regulation plans of major electrical systems in India. The official document they issued also stated that this requirement should extend to all state utilities and Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies (REIAs) have been advised to have a 2-hour co-located ESS. The 2-hour co-located ESS should be 10% of the solar project’s capacity.
Renewable energy is a fluctuating source of energy which also means that there will be instances where the power might not be available, especially during high demand. Energy storage systems offer a solution to this by providing grid stability, optimal energy utilization, and reliability.
Not only this but, the advisory also stated that distribution licensees should also consider making this a mandate to ensure reliability of supply from the consumer end.
In terms of charging these storage systems, the authorities proposed solutions for the energy systems which include a single-cycle operation where, the system uses the co-located solar power and it can be discharged in the evening or a double-cycle operation which can use both solar power as well as energy from the grid itself when demand is low and discharged during non-solar hours.
Currently, India has a storage capacity of 4.86 GW which includes 4.75 GW of pump storage plants (PSP) and 0.11 GW of battery energy storage systems (BESS). Both of them are energy storage solutions essentially working to store the renewable sources of energy that can be used later on. According to the National Electricity Plan, India requires 73.93 GW/411.1 GWh of storage to reach its 2031-32 goal of 364 GW of solar and 121 GW of wind capacity. The CEA mentioned that the ESS will help facilitate this goal.