India’s first grid-scale battery storage project comes online


India’s first grid-scale battery storage system was brought online earlier this week in Rohini, Delhi, by a triumvirate of heavy hitters including Indian electric utility Tata Power, global power company the AES Corporation, and global business enterprise Mitsubishi Corporation.

The 10MW/10MWh grid-connected energy storage system is owned by AES and Mitsubishi Corporation and it is hoped it will pave the way for wider energy storage adoption in India.

The battery energy storage system is located at a substation in Rohini, Delhi, operated by Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL), and consists of an Advancion Energy Storage Platform supplied by Fluence, a Siemens and AES joint venture.

The Advancion platform is designed around small module nodes that serve as the building blocks for the larger energy storage system, providing a high degree of redundancy.

According to Fluence, the platform’ “independent, modular nodes incorporate pre-certified batteries and inverters with our patented controls and are architected in a massively parallel design – offering customers the highest level of reliability and availability, similar to the world’s best data center systems.”

“Fluence is proud to support Tata Power-DDL in their efforts to continuously improve their network by adopting new technologies such as Fluence’s Advancion energy storage platform,” said Stephen Coughlin, CEO of Fluence. “This historic project is a major step forward and will showcase the valuable role energy storage will play in enabling India to achieve its sustainable energy goals.”

Fluence brings to the project more than a decade of experience deploying and operating grid-scale battery-based energy storage projects, with over 730 MW deployed or contracted around the world.

Designed to provide grid stabilisation, better peak load management, add system flexibility, enhance reliability, and protect critical facilities for 2 million consumers that are served by Tata Power-DDL, the new project is part of India’s larger and ambitious vision to install 225 GW of renewable energy generation by 2022 – a target recent analysis from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables suggests is slipping away from India.

Specifically, Rishab Shreshta, solar analyst at research and consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie said earlier this month that India may not be able to meet its 100 GW solar target by 2022 – part of the country’s larger renewable energy target.

“As bid prices stabilise and costs continue to drop, long-term development remains positive but still not sufficient to meet the 100 GW solar target by 2022,” said Shreshta. “India faces short-term uncertainty due to the imposing of various taxes and levies on solar products, the cancellation of tenders and tariff renegotiations.”

Regardless of the process of India’s overall target, ramp-up of battery storage systems such as was completed this week is vital to better integrate the large amount of planned renewable energy – planned not only to increase renewable generation, but also to match India’s skyrocketing power demand with supply.

“Battery-based energy storage has an essential role to play in helping India realize its vision for a more sustainable energy future,” said Andrés Gluski, AES President and Chief Executive Officer. “

AES has been committed to delivering safe, reliable and affordable power in India for the last 27 years and we’re proud to bring the country’s first major grid-scale energy storage solution online and open the market for the use of battery storage technology in India.”

“Tata Power’s collaboration with AES and Mitsubishi is one of the significant milestones in the Indian power sector,” added Praveer Sinha, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Power. “Grid-scale energy storage will pave the way for ancillary market services, power quality management, effective renewable integration and peak load management of Indian grids.”