Pushing the case for energy storage policy formulation

When it comes to smart and sustainable energy security, renewable energy is paving the way for nations around the globe. A target of 175 GW of renewable capacity addition by 2022, coupled with 24×7 power supply envisioned under the National Electricity Policy, 2005, and more recently under the government’s flagship urban infrastructure development programme – the Smart Cities Mission – has created more impetus to upgrade the country’s energy dynamics.

However, intermittency and variability of renewable energy allows only short-term predictability and forecasting, thereby challenging its grid integration and creating a major hurdle in India’s path to achieving maximized renewable penetration. This, coupled with a lack of storage facilities, prevents utilization of the entire quantum of energy generated, and is only set to get worse as renewable capacity addition increases while the country’s electricity infrastructure remains archaic.

Energy storage is essential for the grid integration of fluctuating/infirm sources, contributes to an increased base load and helps curb power shortage during peak demand, consequently reducing reliance on costly and/or inefficient intermittent sources of power. Efficient storage mechanisms also improve availability of energy during peak demand time, reducing the struggle of scheduling generation. Arbitrary injection of power can be decreased too, thus reducing grid instabilities and instances of backing-down.

Rahul Arora is a partner and Abhinav Mishra is an associate at HSA Advocates. HSA is a full-service firm with offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.