Energetica India Magazine March - April 2026

important, we need large-scale storage systems that can capture ex- cess renewable energy and release it when demand rises. Q Energy storage is increasingly being viewed not just as a backup solution but as critical grid infrastructure. How is this perception evolving within India’s power sector? Stuti Kakkar: Energy storage was considered primarily as a back- up solution for years now; it was something that provided power during outages or short-termfluctuations. That perception is quick - ly changing. With storage rapidly getting recognised as core infrastructure neces- sary for renewable integration, grid stability, and energy security, it has become our focus to ensure that energy storage will be part of a 24-hour power supply in the next 5–10years. It is integral tobalanc- ing supply and demand across the system, minimising curtailment, and enabling a dependable flow of renewable power. However, much of the current focus in India has been on short-du- ration storage solutions, typically designed for one to four hours of energy discharge. While it is essential for grid balancing, as per the LDES Council’s 2024 Annual Report, as renewable penetration in- creases, grid flexibility will require long‑duration storage technolo - gies, defined as having discharge durations of eight hours or more, with a need for increasingly long inter‑day andmulti‑day storage as systems move toward higher shares of variable renewables. Long-duration storage helps address multi-hour and multi-day variability in renewable generation and ensures that clean energy can be available even when solar or wind output is low. In many ways, storage is what completes the renewable grid. Q Many experts suggest that the next phase of the energy transition will depend on coordinated planning across generation, storage, and transmission. How critical is this in- tegrated approach for achieving India’s renewable energy am- bitions? Stuti Kakkar: An integrative approach is essential. Historically, power systems were designed around centralised generation sources that produced fairly constant output. Renewable energy flips that paradigm completely. And when the generation is variable, the grid will be designed for storage capacity and transmission infrastructure to integrate with forecasting tools. Planning these elements in silos can lead to bottle- necks, for instance, when large renewable play parks are developed without adequate transmission capacity or storage options to ad- dress fluctuations. When you plan everything together – renewable energy, the grid, and storage, you get a power system that actually works. It’s not justmore reliable; it costs less, too. For India to hit its big renewable energy goals, the grid needs to change. It has to be flexible, run on smart digital systems, andmake roomfor storage. Thatway, energy WOMAN INFLUENCER energetica INDIA- Mar-Apr_2026 63