Commodities
Home›Commodities›Energy Transition›India adds battery storage to cut solar curtailment an…
India adds battery storage to cut solar curtailment and find buyers
The program aims to reduce curtailments tied to grid constraints, with up to 18 GW of solar-only projects currently at higher risk of failing to secure offtakers.
Solar developers in India are increasingly attaching battery storage to photovoltaic projects to make them more attractive to buyers and reduce curtailments, according to Santosh Sarangi, Secretary of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, speaking at the BNEF Summit in New Delhi.
Oilprice, citing Sarangi, said as much as 42 gigawatts of solar projects are still struggling to find offtakers, and about 18 GW of solar-only projects without batteries are most at risk of continuing to face the same problem.
The reporting links the challenge to operational constraints, saying solar plants experience curtailments during the hottest months and peak daytime hours when grids cannot absorb power.
The article also points to broader system limits, noting that grid and transmission constraints accounted for nearly two-thirds of renewable energy curtailment of 300 gigawatt-hours in the first quarter, according to Ember, which has estimated India needs around 10 GWh of battery storage to curb curtailment during periods when coal generation cannot ramp down.