Indian Battery manufacturers shifts focus to advanced applications through common platform

Indian electricity market in its quest for reliable and quality power supply for all is evolving rapidly.Government’s ambitious targets of adding 175 GW of renewable energy and heavy investment promise in expansion and upgradation of transmission and distribution network are leading to making of robust electricity market.Power Minister of India, Mr. Piyush Goyal has said that the transmission and distribution (T&D) sector can expect private and government sector investments of nearly USD 50 billion over the next four years. Recently government of India launched National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) with allocation of Rs.980 crore in 12th Plan.

Year 2015 is anticipated to kickoff grid scale advanced storage projects in India. PGCIL pilot projects are expected to start in this year and there are a number of other MW scale projects that are expected to get selected for applications such as diesel replacement, renewable integration and microgrids. The ‘Make in India’ Campaign will provide a boost to companies which are looking to establish their base & extend business in India. 

Other applications like electric and hybrid vehicle are likely to be driven by initiatives like FAME India Scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India). Under this schemeincentives are being rolled out for electric and hybrid vehicles. Target: 6-7 million electric vehicles on road by 2020.

In recentlyconcluded ESA Annual Conference held at Dellas, TX, USA, many major foreign companies announced that they are also eyeing to enter emerging markets like India apart from focusing developed countries.These companies are likely to tie up with many local Indian companies to stay ahead in this undefined yet promising market.India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) is the leading alliance in this market to promote energy storage adoption across applications and provides a platform for various stakeholders to boost and help this market to grow. Currently with 40+ global and local players as members for the past 3 years, IESA encourages open and transparent information exchange that will assist with decision making.

During the past year IESA has received tremendous response from various stakeholders and has a growing list of members that have joined IESA Network. The IESA membership is diverse and includes energy storage manufacturers, academic / research institutions, technology and materials developers, start-ups, engineering firms, renewable companies, systems integrators, as well as large end-users.

Recently, leading Lead Acid batterymanufacturers namely EXIDE Industries and AMARA RAJA and advance lead acid manufacturer Firefly joined India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) along with Plus,a thermal storage company and Prayas (Energy Group), theleader in policy advocacy in the energy sector.