Que: How do you see BESS supporting grid stability as India ramps up its variable renewable energy capacity to meet its 500 GW non-fossil fuel target by 2030?

Ans: Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) will play an inevitably critical role in maintaining grid stability as India scales up its renewable capacity. It helps to address intermittency and ramping challenges by enabling time-shifting of renewable generation. BESS also supports peak demand management, frequency regulation, and more efficient utilisation of transmission infrastructure, while significantly reducing curtailment. As India targets 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, energy storage will be vital in bridging the gap between variable supply and dynamic demand.

Que: Among co-located/hybrid, standalone, and FDRE configurations, which storage model offers the most promise in India’s current regulatory and market context?

Ans: Currently, standalone BESS projects are seeing traction in recent bids. Being connected with grid nodal points, it generates flexible use case options to serve across locations, combined with growing renewable integration. It also offers flexibility to the grid operator to utilise the storage system optimally based on the grid stability dynamics.

However, the sector is steadily shifting towards co-located and hybrid models, where storage is integrated with renewable energy projects. These configurations enhance plant economics by reducing curtailment, improving capacity utilisation, and optimising evacuation infrastructure. Recent tenders mandating BESS capacity equal to 10 percent of generation capacity will accelerate this trend. Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy (FDRE) models have also gained relevance as market mechanisms evolve to support round-the-clock renewable supply.

Que: What are the biggest roadblocks – technical, commercial, or policy – that still need to be addressed to enable large-scale BESS deployment in India?

Ans: The key bottlenecks to large-scale BESS deployment are:

Technical: India’s diverse climatic conditions demand stringent performance standards for high ambient temperature, humidity, and dust. BESS solutions demand a high degree of safety standards and reliable performance. The round-trip efficiency, thermal management system and energy management solutions are critical for the overall success of the BESS system. The current ecosystem in India is in a formative stage; however, regulatory policies (PLI, VGF, etc.) are being adapted to accelerate the facilities development for certification, testing and phase-wise manufacturing capabilities. Also, the availability of skilled resources for such high-end technologies needs to be ramped up by focused skill development programmes. Tackling these challenges in parallel is critical to achieving the required scale and speed for India’s clean energy transition.

Commercial: As India advances its clean energy ambitions, developers must adopt a phased approach to revenue models that reflect the maturity of the domestic ecosystem. For now, the TBCB tendering mechanism, with its capacity-based revenue structure, offers the most viable commercial pathway. However, as the ecosystem deepens in both technological capability and commercial sophistication, India will be well-positioned to transition toward more nuanced frameworks – ranging from ancillary service-based contracts to innovative ‘Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) as a Service’. Achieving this will also require a strategic overhaul of tender qualification frameworks, ensuring that both technical competence and financial strength are the core criteria. Such recalibration is critical to long-term system resilience and quality.

Policy: India has already shown strong intent on BESS through ambitious targets and tendering programs. The next step is to move from distributed frameworks to a unified approach that provides clarity and confidence to all stakeholders. By streamlining tender structures, enabling service-oriented revenue models, and nurturing domestic manufacturing, we can accelerate large-scale adoption. With the right policy alignment, India is well-placed to become a global leader in energy storage.

Que: What are the recent technological advancements in battery energy storage that you find particularly exciting for India?

Ans: Globally, apart from proven and widely used lithium-ion chemistry, there are significant advancements in longer-duration battery chemistries such as sodium-ion, nickel-hydrogen and metal air, which could be promising alternatives to lithium-ion for select use cases in India.

Improvements in battery management systems are enhancing cycle life, safety, and thermal performance, while modular designs are enabling faster deployment and greater scalability. On the integration front, AI-driven forecasting and optimisation is making storage systems more responsive to market signals and grid requirements. Combined with India’s focus on indigenous manufacturing, these innovations can greatly enhance the affordability, resilience, and deployment speed of BESS in the years ahead.

Furthermore, there are significant efforts ongoing to develop unified standards for product development and certification requirements to ensure the highest safety, reliability and performance for the entire BESS solution.