Grid Energy Storage: Cabinet Approves Rs 14,500 Crore for 92 GWh
Power distribution companies can claim support for battery and pumped-storage plants, and battery projects must use at least 40% Indian-made content.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
The Union Cabinet on 4 November approved Rs 14,500 crore in viability gap funding to build 92 GWh of grid-scale energy storage between 2026-27 and 2030-31, according to the official release. Public and private power distribution companies can claim the money for battery and pumped-storage plants, which will be picked through tariff-based competitive bidding. The government expects about Rs 97,600 crore in total investment, and Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw briefed reporters on the decision after the meeting.
Battery Projects Need 40% Indian Content
Of the 92 GWh, 60 GWh is for pumped hydro plants, 30 GWh for battery energy storage systems and 2 GWh for other storage technologies. Battery projects must meet a minimum domestic content requirement of 40%, which the release says is meant to support local manufacturing and cut import dependence.
Storage lets solar and wind power produced in the day be used after sunset. The release says grid operators and consumers gain through better renewable integration and round-the-clock supply. Vaishnaw said that “due to storage, our existing transmission capacity, we can increase it multiple times”. The release does not say what the scheme will do to electricity tariffs.
Also read Lithium, Nickel Processing: Cabinet Backs Rs 2,814 Crore Scheme
92 GWh Is 170% of Today’s Grid Storage
The new capacity equals about 170% of the grid-scale storage India has now, the release says, against a projected need of 411 GWh by 2031-32. In September 2023 the Cabinet approved a smaller viability gap scheme for battery storage alone. The Central Electricity Authority has separately mapped 345 GW of pumped-storage potential across 320 projects.
The same meeting cleared the Rs 4,371 crore VISTAR scheme to rebuild India’s statistics system. More decisions are collected under Union Cabinet.
Bidding Rules Still to Come
Projects will win capacity through competitive bids, but the release does not give a bidding date, the support per unit of storage or the states where plants will come up.
Source: Cabinet release on the Rs 14,500 crore viability gap funding scheme. Also based on reporting by BW Businessworld and The Tribune.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
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