Energy Storage Pro- Dec-Jan Issue 2021 (Launch Edition)

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TRENDING

BATTERY STORAGE THE MISSING LINK TO INDIA’S RENEWABLE GROWTH STORY INSIGHTS

FUTUREPROOFING ENERGY STORAGE

PERSPECTIVE

HOW STORAGE CAN ENHANCE YOUR

SOLAR ROOFTOP PROJECT?

GROWTH PATH FOR A HYDROGENBASED ECONOMY IN INDIA

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Empowering, Insightful, Engaging

CONTENT IN CONVERSATION

NEWS

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DEV ASHISH ANEJA Assistant Vice President, Strategy & Policy (Automotive & Electric Vehicles), Invest India

INSIGHTS

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PERSPECTIVES

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Lithium-ion battery: Is it Really the FUTURE of Automotive Batteries?

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How Electrical Grid Reduces The Need for Energy Storage under Net Metering Policy

Lithium-ion battery: Ways Energy Storage is Fuelling the Renewables Revolution?

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12 Battery Storage: The missing link to India’s renewable growth story

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What are the Areas Of Expertise Required For Deploying Large-Scale Energy Storage Projects?

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How Does the Growth Path Look Like for a Hydrogen-based Economy in India?

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How Storage Can Enhance Your Solar Rooftop Project?

Can Battery Storage Propel Energy Transition for India? Will Inclusion of Policy Framework Help?

Future-Proofing Energy Storage

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EMOBILITY + | JAN FEB ISSUE 2020

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INDIA NEWS HON’BLE MINISTER SURESH PRABHU EMPHASIZED INDIA’S AMBITIOUS RENEWABLE GENERATION TARGET AT THE INDIA ENERGY STORAGE WEEK With a vision to further accelerate the growth in the energy and e-mobility sector, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), India’s leading alliance on energy storage & e-mobility hosted its annual virtual conference and exhibition India Energy Storage Week (IESW) from 3rd - 6th November along with Pre – Conference Workshops held on November 02, 2020.

Speaking at the event Keynote speaker, Shri Suresh Prabhu, India' s Sherpa to G20 & G7, Member of Parliament, highlighting India' s vision to emerge as global energy leader stated "Energy storage is an important aspect of the electricity mix in the country, bringing new dynamics in the energy spectrum. India has an ambitious renewable generation, making it carbon-neutral in the upcoming time. India has embarked upon an ambitious target of 100000 MWH Solar and 75000 MWH Wind. However, challenges are there, and it can be met with efficient energy storage technology. Storage is going to be a new thrust area.

I am happy that we will be discussing energy storage in-depth with industry pioneers, think-tanks, Policymakers, Global Leaders at the IESW to further propagate the Atma Nirbhar Bharat vision of our honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

UNION CABINET APPROVED NATIONAL PROGRAM ON ACC BATTERY STORAGE Union cabinet recently accorded its in-principle approval for the “National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage” ACC Programme.

Regarding the same NITI Aayog has published (NITI Website) the first draft of the Model Bid Documents to initiate Stakeholders Consultation. Advance Chemistry Cells (“ACCs”) are the new generation advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy and convert it back to electric energy as and when required. Globally, manufacturers are investing in these new generation technologies at commercial scale to fill the expected boom in battery demand through 2030. This is a first of its kind incentive initiative by the Government to promote Make in India and to attract global investments into setting-up of ‘Gigafactories’ in India.

| DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

INDIA ENERGY STORAGE WEEK SET THE GROWTH ROADMAP OF INDIAN ENERGY STORAGE SECTOR

BY BRINGING TOGETHER INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT DELEGATES The increasing graph of the global energy ecosystem in India is estimated to cement India on the roadmap of becoming the largest market for advanced energy storage technologies within the next 5 years. With a view to further propagate this vision and to bring industry leaders on a single platform to discuss the growth prospects and roadblocks for the sector, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) India’s leading alliance on energy storage & e-mobility organized its flagship virtual conference and exhibition - India Energy Storage Week (IESW) from 3rd - 6th November along with Pre – Conference Workshops on November 02, 2020. India is on the right path towards adopting energy storage backed by the exponential growth of Behind the meter and Grid scale storage market, being deployed globally to support the renewable energy integration. Energy storage market in India is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% by 2026 with the global energy storage investment projected upto $100 billion in the next five years.

The Industry is witnessing a significant rise in the number of companies supplying energy storage systems and big companies formulating R&D initiatives for energy storage. State Governments like Delhi and Telangana have recently announced the policy to create a conducive ecosystem for EV adoption in the respective states. Investments have been raised in the sector with more than 50 companies receiving funding from Indian conglomerates for service-side innovation, BMS, Thermal management, etc. Through India Energy Storage Week, IESA envisioned paving ways towards accelerating India’s E-mobility journey, the market size and potential, the unending opportunities in the sector and the global impact on the sustainability of energy resources. During India Energy Storage Week (IESW), IESA launched MIGHT (Mobility and Infrastructure with Green Hydrogen Technology) Initiative to focus work on hydrogen production, storage and applications including stationary power generation, transportation and other usage in India. As part of this initiative, IESA organized two dedicated sessions on hydrogen and fuel-cell and also partnered with Innovation Norway and Business Finland for India – Nordic Collaboration for Hydrogen Economy.

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CABINET’S DECISION TO MAKE THE COUNTRY ATMA NIRBHAR WELCOMED BY IESA India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), India’s leading alliance on energy storage & e-mobility welcomes the Union Cabinet’s approval on 11th Nov’2020 to introduce the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme in the following 10 key sectors for Enhancing India’s Manufacturing Capabilities and Enhancing Exports – Atmanirbhar Bharat. The 10 key sectors have received a total financial outlay of INR 1,45,980 crore over a period of five years, of which, Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery has been approved a financial outlay of INR 18,100 crores. Automobiles and auto components have been approved for INR 57,042 crores. NITI Aayog and Department of Heavy Industries will be the implementing agency for this scheme.

IESA, being actively working in the space of Energy Storage & Electric Vehicle, has put a lot of efforts over the past three years in generating interest amongst Technology Companies & Investors after the launch of National Energy Storage Mission and National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage.

EXIDE INCREASES ITS STAKE TO 80.15% IN A JOINT VENTURE WITH A SWISS FIRM India’s largest manufacturer of lead-acid batteries and energy storage solutions Exide Industries Ltd (EIL) has increased its stake to 80.15 % in its joint venture (JV) with Leclanché,a Swiss firm.The JVC will focus on stationary energy storage systems,electric transport, and specially storage markets. It has also invested INR 33.17 crore (approx*) by subscription to the equity share capital of Exide Leclanché Energy Pvt Ltd which is its subsidiary, the company stated.Early in 2018 Exide Industries signed a pact with Leclanché SA to build lithium-ion batteries and provide energy storage systems to meet the growing needs of the EV sector and grid-connected applications in India. The company’s paid up capital of the JV is INR 128.59 crore and the recent investments aims at meeting the funding requirement specifically the capital expenditure projects of the JVC.

INDIA STATIONARY ENERGY STORAGE MARKET IS SET TO DOUBLE ITS ANNUAL CAPACITY ADDITIONS BEFORE 2027 India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), India’s leading alliance on energy storage & e-mobility,in the latest edition of the report provides an analysis of the market potential and market size of Stationary Energy Storage in applications such as renewable energy integration into the grid, Transmission & Distribution(T&D) deferral, ancillary services as well as in the Behind-the-Meter (BTM) applications from 2020 to 2027. In addition, the report covers top markets for this year. BTM applications include solar rooftop, inverters, diesel usage optimization, UPS, telecom, rural electrification, and thermal energy storage applications. The market overview report estimates the energy storage market in India to be US $2.1 billion in 2019 and forecasts a CAGR of 8% by 2027. The report has taken 2019 as the base year for the estimation and the forecast period considered for projections is 2020-27. | DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

INDIA ENERGY STORAGE ALLIANCE (IESA) AND UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION (UNIDO) PARTNERS FOR PROMOTING INNOVATIONS IN ENERGY STORAGE IN INDIA India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), India’s leading alliance on energy storage & e-mobility partners with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for “Facility of Low Carbon Deployment” (FLCTD) Innovation Challenge for technology innovation in beta deployment of electrical energy storage in India. To support and encourage the new innovations in Indian energy storage and e-mobility space, FLCTD by UNIDO launched the 4th round of innovation challenge. The aim of the challenge is to identify high-impact opportunities that have the potential for energy saving along with largescale carbon emission reductions, and to provide financial support for field validation/beta testing of their technology. The challenge covers technologies such as electrochemical batteries, supercapacitors, critical components for electrical energy storage systems including power conversion systems while the applications include off-grid stationary applications, e-mobility, battery recycling, grid-connected and behindthe-meter. Globally, the energy storage and e-mobility sector are dominated by large legacy companies, but the Indian market is witnessing a different trend. While major conventional petroland diesel-base vehicle manufactures have forayed in electric vehicle manufacturing in India, there has also been a surge of new startups. The proliferation of startups in the EV space is largely driven by the government’s vision for 2030.

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IN CONVERSATION

DEV ASHISH ANEJA Assistant Vice President, Strategy & Policy (Automotive & Electric Vehicles), Invest India

In an exclusive interview with Energy Storage Pro magazine, Mr. Dev Ashish Aneja - Assistant Vice President, Strategy & Policy (Automotive & Electric Vehicles), Invest India speaks about the effects of the pandemic on the storage sector, latest technological innovations happening in the sector, how battery storage can propel green energy transition for India and help achieve the ambitious RE target and the future of the storage sector in the coming years.

What has been the effect of Covid on the storage sector in India and globally?

over half of these batteries. There was a slowdown in this segment as well.

As with so many other industries, this pandemic did temporarily slow down the storage sector globally & in India. China controls the vast majority of the supply chains.

Going by the actual 2020 numbers for battery capacity alone, China accounts for over 77% of the total global capacity and has access to most of the global supplies for raw materials. Also, China was the epicentre of this pandemic in its early days. Thus, supply chain disruptions were bound to happen.

Energy storage system manufacturers across the world in the US, Germany, Australia & India were adversely impacted by the shutdown of operations in China.

India imported USD one billion worth of lithium ion batteries for its storage needs last year alone and almost all of this came from China.

Also, there was a temporary slowdown in the demand of end products which consume these energy storage batteries. Among all the applications of energy storage, by far the largest one is electric vehicles which consume

However, governments across the world were quick in offering extensive demand side incentives and other forms of regulatory push to stabilise this e-mobility segment which definitely worked to quite an extent. On the demand for residential storage systems, we did witness a slowdown due to economic uncertainties and reduction in wages around the world. Despite all this, if we go by the actual numbers, battery capacity worldwide has grown to three times in the past 24 months from 175 GwH in 2018 to 525 GwH in 2020. In the past few months, we at Invest India have started seeing active interest from global investors in the Indian storage industry, especially with the PLI schemes coming up wherein USD 2.5 Bn (INR 18,000 Cr) is allocated to the manufacturing of advanced cell chemistries.

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In your view can battery storage propel green energy transition for India and help achieve the ambitious RE target?

The Government of India has been setting extremely aggressive targets from the perspective of renewable energy installation. The biggest bottleneck in India’s cleantech story has always been storage and that’s where the upcoming ACC programme is targeted towards. Domestic battery storage capacities in India in the coming years, with a significant level of local value addition, are going to push India more towards renewable energy.

Even by a conservative estimate, India should be about a 150 GwH market by 2030 and the second largest consumer segment of this market is going to be the stationary applications, after of course electric vehicles.

What are some of the technological innovations happening in the energy storage sector currently in India?

There are a number of start-ups in the country making headway into research and development of battery technology and supporting domains. We have been seeing phenomenal action happening on the battery chemistry, software,

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battery management systems and also on the recycling side. There are Indian players working on new chemistries which are high on elements, abundant in India thus taking us on a path of self reliant India. Couple of these players are in active discussions with customers across segments and their products are being tested for Indian market conditions. There are other players in India working on patented technologies that offer higher energy densities and longer cycle life and also allow 0100% charging in 15 min. Indian start ups in the recycling space have already started to perform full-stack recycling of used Li-ion batteries and are extracting materials such as Cobalt, Graphite, Manganese sulphate and nickel sulphate, which can be further used to produce new Li-ion cells.

What are some of the present trends and expected future trends in the energy storage sector in India?

With the rapid progress of research & development in this area, prices of battery cells have fallen from USD 1000 per kwh to a little over USD 100 in the past decade. This consistent fall in battery prices is a major boost to the sector thus, contributing to the commercial feasibility of storage.

From an application perspective, we as a country have made a lot of moves in the right direction in the past eighteen months. Several regulations related to supply & demand incentives for e-mobility, changing building bylaws, democratization of charging, delinking of batteries for 2W / 3W and so on so forth. The growth in the Indian EV market is expected to have a significant & a direct impact on the growth of the energy storage market in the country.

investment.The penetration of lithium-ion batteries is projected to increase rapidly from 4 per cent in 2019 to 45 per cent in 2027 primarily due to the decreasing prices of lithium-ion battery systems. The share of other battery technologies, although still small, could also increase from less than one per cent in 2019 to five per cent in 2027. Solid-state batteries are an emerging trend for next-generation traction batteries, as they offer high performance and safety at low cost

Lastly, please tell us how do you think the sector will shape up once the Covid situation normalises? Where can we see the sector in the next 5 years?

There are two primary ways in which countries worldwide are building their energy storage capabilities. First is the top down approach which starts with heavy investments in R&D before actually the technology commercialization happens. Second approach, which is mostly the approach that India is adopting, is the bottom up approach. Given that we have a limited experience in developing new age battery technologies, we need to bring in policies to foster an ecosystem that promotes mass scale manufacturing of these batteries. I see the sector growing by leaps and bounds in India. We are staring at a massive cumulative market of 500-750 GwH / Year by 2030. Most of this

demand is going to come from EMobility especially from the commercial 2W/3W segment. One of the major drivers for this growth, especially in the pandemic days, has been the e-commerce / grocery delivery segment. These are the companies which have committed to go green, they understand the economics of EV’s and they have their first mile & last mile delivery needs.

Additionally, from an incentive stand point, Central Govt has recently floated the draft PLI scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cells. This is going to be a game changer. This programme is offering a massive subsidy of up-to 20% of the sale price. As of now, bid documents are in public domain, industry consultations are already happening and we have the financial approvals for over INR 18k Cr, in the first tranche. The best thing is that the ACC programme is technology agnostic which means any technology & any chemistry which can perform efficiently in terms of energy density & cycle life is eligible to avail these incentives. As of now, over fifteen chemistries available worldwide will be able to deliver the performance parameters needed to avail the ACC incentives. Additionally, States are aggressively launching their dedicated EV policies offering supply as well as demand side incentives.

Further, Bloomberg New Energy Finance expects ESS to attract $662bn of investments by 2040 globally and India will be one of the main recipients of global ESS

| DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

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INSIGHTS LITHIUM-ION BATTERY: IS IT REALLY THE FUTURE OF AUTOMOTIVE BATTERIES?

In the past decade, India has been facing an acute problem of air pollution, and the situation is even worse in urban cities with the rising air quality index.

Many experts blame the rapid increase in passenger vehicles as one of the primary reasons for this crisis. To some extent, they are right because India’s automobile market is mainly dependent on fossil fuels (petrol and diesel) resulting in higher toxic output in the environment. India uses natural gas as an alternative to petrol and diesel but, the availability of CNG outside metro cities is still scarce. The huge infrastructure cost associated with the setting up is also a major hurdle in expansion.

As a result, the Electric Vehicle (EV) is a quick proof and sustainable solution to the growing menace of environmental pollution. EVs are often praised for green and clean mobility. It is the so-called future of automotive mobility, and it will help us in the cause to fight air pollution till a large extent.

"Lithium is a critical element used in the battery technology that underpins much of the world’s consumer electronics, electric vehicles and energy storage systems."

Industries are coming forward to work on effective measures, and develop new technologies that can shape the future of the automobile industry. Unlike internal combustion engine (ICE) cars; the backbone of EVs is the battery technology used in them. Today, most of the EVs coming out in the market use Lithium-Ion as the primary source of energy to spin the wheels. Lithium-ion cells have the potential in terms of reductions in carbon emissions and energy sustainability.

They are considered one of the most stable sources for a battery having the least charging time and requiring low maintenance relative to other available battery technology. Additionally, the self-discharge role of Lithium-ion cells is significantly lower than any other rechargeable cell.

| DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

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Lithium is a critical element used in the battery technology that underpins much of the world’s consumer electronics, electric vehicles and energy storage systems.

New researches are being conducted to make Lithium Ion cells more powerful and durable. In a recent study by Stanford University, researchers demonstrated how Lithium Metal cells could become a promising technology for powering Electric Vehicles.

A lithium metal battery can hold about twice as much electricity per kilogram as today’s conventional lithium-ion battery. Lithium metal cells achieve this by replacing the graphite anode with lithium metal, which stores significantly more energy. Auto companies worldwide are heavily investing in battery development. This can bolster the strong demand for lithium-ion batteries.

Even in the energy storage space, India is making great strides and the active participation of the government has further strengthened the industry’s determination to store renewable energy sources.

Lithium batteries require a high level of environmental control while assembling and manufacturing. The production must be undertaken in very critical and controlled (Dry Room) environment conditions. Non-maintenance of the desired RH during lithium cell manufacturing (<1%) and battery assembling (<10%) may lead to severe consequences including reduced quality, bad performance, and increased chances of explosion.

Dehumidification or moisture control solutions, has

proven itself to be a critical factor in the control of the environment in the Dry Rooms without which lithium battery manufacturing is not feasible. These rooms are equipped with moisture control equipment’s that help in achieving extremely low dew point [up to (-) 80℃] control for all the hygroscopic and moisture sensitive material processing.

In today’s context, dehumidification products and solutions are playing an active role in India’s EV push and energy storage mission too. Partnering with battery manufacturers/assemblers and the environmental control solutions offered by local players is instrumental in making quality, safe and reliable lithium batteries in India.

In the 'Make in India' initiative, the narrative for Lithiumion batteries will grow further. Lithium-Ion battery manufacturers are today the most vulnerable and hence, driving the high requirement for Dry Rooms in India. There is a need for more investment from able manufacturers. India as a market has enormous potential to ramp up the scale, and make India a selfreliant country in this space.

To bridge the gap for lithium batteries in India, companies like Bry-Air are supplying fully built Dry Rooms with environment control equipment and low dew point dehumidifiers to some of the leading Indian organizations and MNCs. The vast experience, technical know how and successes in providing low dew point dehumidification equipment across the Globe including China has only helped strengthen the confidence. With the government pushing to become the EV first nation by 2030, the local manufacturers are fully geared up to serve the nation.

DEEPAK PAHWA Managing Director, Bry-Air (Asia)

| DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

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INSIGHTS HOW ELECTRICAL GRID REDUCES THE NEED FOR ENERGY STORAGE UNDER NET METERING POLICY

Renewable energy is increasingly becoming cheaper than that derived from thermal power plants. However, a major problem with renewable energy sources such as solar is the mismatch between energy generation and consumption. For example, consider a solar rooftop photovoltaic (SRTPV) system serving an electric vehicle (EV) charging station. While solar energy is generated during the day, EVs may also be charged during the night. This mismatch naturally creates the need for energy storage that can store the excess energy generated for use during times of higher demand. This is referred to as time shifting of energy.

However, energy storage systems increase overall system costs, thereby making the integration of renewables costlier. Net metering is a powerful mechanism which can facilitate energy time-shifting by the electrical grid with zero additional costs. The following section explains how this is achieved.

HOW DOES NET METERING FACILITATE ENERGY TIME SHIFTING THROUGH THE ELECTRICAL GRID? Net metering was introduced to encourage the adoption of grid-connected SRTPV systems by incentivizing the export of excess energy to the grid. The setup requires a bidirectional meter which moves in one direction when energy is imported and in the opposite direction when energy is exported to the grid. The net meter displacement at the end of a billing cycle is noted for generating the electricity bill. This simple accounting method allows the grid to provide an energy storage service within the billing cycle. The following example will explain this concept better.

Consider a case where the total load to be served daily is around 100 units (1 unit is equal to one kilowatt-hour or kWh). Assuming 5 hours of average daily generation (in areas such as Bengaluru), a 20 kWp (kilowatt-peak) RTPV system will suffice. The schematic in the figure below gives a snapshot of the operational details of a grid-tied RTPV system that can serve such a load. On Day 1, for example, a total of 100 kWh energy was generated. Of this, 50 kWh was used during generation and the remaining 50 kWh was exported as excess energy during daytime. Thus, a net energy of 50 kWh was imported from the grid (denoted by a negative sign). | DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

While a 5-day billing cycle has been used to keep the example short, the arguments hold for a billing cycle of any length. The schematic elucidates a number of instances where the grid acts as a proxy for energy storage.

For example, consider the total load across Days 2 and 3, which is 200 kWh. This load is effectively met by the total solar energy generated over these days during which 20 kWh is exchanged with the grid. As the net displacement of the metering device remains the same by the end of Day 3, no additional costs are incurred. In other words, the grid provides the service of energy time shifting across these days for zero cost. This practically nullifies the business case for any kind of dedicated energy storage system for this application. At the end of the billing cycle, only the net energy exchanged with the grid (denoted by the net displacement of the metering device) is used to generate the bill. Thus, under the net metering scenario only the RTPV system size needs to be matched with the total daily load, without worrying about any mismatch between energy generation and consumption within a billing cycle.

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WHEN IS A DEDICATED ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM REQUIRED? Note that the above arguments are applicable for energy storage through the energy time-shifting application. Storage may be considered for other scenarios or applications such as To provide power backup for off-grid applications, or when the electrical grid is not reliable To realise cost reduction under a time-of-day (ToD) tariff For time-shifting energy under the absence of net metering policy

Energy storage applications can be broadly classified into two categories: behind the meter (BTM) and front of the meter (FTM). The use case presented above is an example of a BTM application, wherein the main objective is to save on electricity bills of the end users. In an FTM application, energy storage systems mainly serve the grid with applications such as power quality management and frequency regulation.

The time-of-day tariff represents different electricity costs at different times of the day. For example, Uttar Pradesh is one of the few states in the country to have a ToD tariff for EV charging. The tariff from 11:00 to 17:00 hours is INR 7.7/kWh (for LT consumers) which gets costlier by INR 1.155/kWh between 17:00 and 23:00 hours. In such a scenario, the lower-cost energy can be stored for use during peak-rate durations. This suggests that (in this case, for UP) the levelized cost of storage should be lower than INR 1.155/kWh to save on electricity bills.

VINAY KANDAGAL Ph.D. - Research Scientist, Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy(CSTEP)

| DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

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INSIGHTS BATTERY STORAGE: THE MISSING LINK TO INDIA’S RENEWABLE GROWTH STORY

India’s Renewable Energy (RE) sector is a key market for global investors, offering a potential of over 1000 GW and an investment opportunity of over USD 20 Billion (Bn) annually. India has one of the most ambitious renewable energy targets in the world - 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030, spearheaded by the personal commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Within a short span of five years, India has established itself as a global leader in the renewable energy sector. At 89 GW, India has the 5th largest installed capacity globally, along with the 4th largest for wind and 5th largest for solar energy.

In 2015, during COP21, India led the way by declaring ambitious government commitments for a ‘New India’ powered by clean sources of energy, which includes 3335 per cent reduction in the emissions intensity below 2005 levels and increase in the share of non-fossil fuels in the total installed capacity to 40 per cent by the year 2030.

According to a recent report by the International Energy Alliance (IEA) titled the ‘World Energy Outlook 2020’, power generation from renewable energy sources is the

| DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

only energy source showcasing growth this year.

Similarly, for India, the coal sector has shown a marked decline. With the expectation that coal levels shall never reach the pre-pandemic levels, Solar PV projects would play an increasingly vital role for meeting the growth in the energy demands.

According to the India’s Power Minister, R.K. Singh, “Solar energy is already contributing around 2.8 percent of global electricity and if trends were to continue, by 2030, solar will become the most important source of energy for electricity production in large parts of the world.”

With a rise in the need for solar energy, storage would play a very vital role in ensuring the flexible operations of the power systems. India, with its ambitious renewable energy targets, is already shifting its focus towards storage-based projects to tackle the intermittency of the power generated through clean energy sources.

India’s energy storage market, which was USD 2.1 Bn in 2019, will translate to 230 GWh during the 2020-27 period. This, coupled with the increased focus of the government in achieving its 2022 target of 100 GW solar capacity and 60 GW capacity of wind power, will further propel the energy storage market in India. By 2040, India is touted to become the largest market for utility scale energy storage.

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The government of India is playing a catalytic role in establishing and developing the energy storage market in India. Piggybacking on the measures to boost adoption of renewable energy in India by the government, energy storage is poised to grow as a promising field for foreign investors looking to leverage the clean energy ecosystem of India.

Steps taken and policies central to these are:Demand Boost: Between 2018 and 2020, storage tenders of 169 MWh capacity have been issued by the government. In addition to this, SECI released two more solar tenders with 3,900 MWh of storage capacity.

Manufactured Linked Tender: 1.2 GW of SECI tenders have been won by Greenko (900MW) and ReNew Power (300MW). Greenko will further invest around USD 1 Bn in the battery storage business.

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme: Government of India will invest around USD 2.4 Bn over next five years to support the manufacture of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) batteries to help both domestic and international players set up operations in India.

Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy: Introduced by the government in 2018 to develop hybrid power, India’s total wind-solar hybrid capacity is expected to grow to 11.7 GW by 2023, adding further boost to the energy storage capacity.

Public Sector Initiatives: The NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) has issued a global Expression of Interest (EoI) for ten Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) for public transportation purposes in Leh and New Delhi. As of April 2020, the pilot project under Phase-I of the program, has already launched the use of five of each of the fuel cell electric buses and cars in Leh.

Operated by Tata Power-Delhi Distribution Limited (DDL), India has already operationalised its first grid-scale battery substation in March 2019 located at Rohini, New Delhi. Additionally, over 1 GWh of annual assembling capacity is already being set up for converting imported Li ion cells into battery modules by various Indian companies.

With India’s growing demand for energy and the need for clean energy sources, it is important to have a regular supply of renewable generated power. Therefore, battery storage is one sector that becomes increasingly vital for the country. Realising the vast opportunity, the government of India is making strides in providing a robust policy environment for the sector to grow and prosper.

Additionally, the recent introduction of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Vocal for Local” initiative coupled with the ambitious RE commitments, would make battery storage one of the most attractive sectors for investments in the future. To leverage the growing potential of this sector, we welcome you to come Invest in India!

SARANSH ROY Senior Investment Specialist, Institutional & Infrastructure Investments, Invest india

KANIKA VERMA Associate, Renewable Energy & Power and Strategic Investment Research Unit, Invest India

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INSIGHTS WHAT ARE THE AREAS OF EXPERTISE REQUIRED FOR DEPLOYING LARGE-SCALE ENERGY STORAGE PROJECTS?

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With rapid increase in renewables in the power mix, the concern for better grid management is growing due to the fluctuating nature of RE power. Apart from having the ability to address the intermittent supply of renewable energy, energy storage assets can also offer a multitude of uses consisting of frequency regulation and ancillary services.

Particularly, the solar-plus-storage system needs to fully consider the management of batteries and PCS when dispatching the output, to improve the safety and ROI of the whole hybrid plant. So only an experienced company which excels at both energy storage and PV industry can integrate an efficient system.

Large-scale energy storages are getting deployed in many parts of the world and likely to grow exponentially in coming years with more capacity addition of solar and wind projects. System integration technology is critical to the stable operation of large scale solar-plus-storage projects. Only few companies have proven solar-plusstorage system integration capabilities, though many companies do well in individual fields such as PV inverters, batteries, Power Conversion System (PCS), and Energy Management System (EMS).

In addition, efficient energy management through an intelligent control unit based on PV power prediction and millisecond response characteristics of energy storage is also crucial to safe operation and maximum yields of the whole system. A rapid communication mechanism bridged among PCS, BMS and EMS can ensure the safety of the battery and the entire system.

Given the condition that different applications put different requirements on energy storage systems, there is no unified standard for energy storage system design and cost management. This variability leads to a grey zone due to the uneven integration capabilities and the low price competition.

The most critical aspect of energy storage system integration is the safety of the battery system. A qualified system protection design can monitor the operating status of cells, modules, battery clusters, battery management system (BMS) in real-time, enables prealarm and faults localization. If a fault occurs, it can protect the system by fast-breaking and anti-arc protection. Otherwise, minor faults can easily evolve into major problems.

There’s no doubt that the advancement of technology allows more integration between renewable energy and storage, indicating a mature multiple-energy era is imminent. The marketplace will see the integrated energy storage system which is more cost-optimized, safer and more efficient, getting rid of the instability and intermittent constraints of renewable energy.

A QUALIFIED SYSTEM PROTECTION DESIGN CAN MONITOR THE OPERATING STATUS OF CELLS, MODULES, BATTERY CLUSTERS,

The challenges are also related to battery life, where the temperature control system for energy storage is paramount. Particularly, the thermal simulation and experimental verification, air duct design of storage containers, HVAC configuration should strictly be controlled, or it may lead to the uneven temperature of lithium-ion batteries and hence aggravate battery instability.

BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (BMS)

THE EFFICIENT INTEGRATION:

PROTECTION. OTHERWISE, MINOR

The solar-plus-storage solution relies on deep analysis and technology integration of the whole system instead of a mechanical combination of two systems, to achieve a leap forward in terms of efficiency and performance.

FAULTS CAN EASILY EVOLVE INTO

Technically, the hybrid system needs to ensure the stable operation of PV, energy storage and the grid, creating smooth communication among hardware, software and systems. There exist a variety of devices from different manufactures, so compatibility becomes a major challenge for the integrator who needs to be adept at all the protocols.

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IN REAL-TIME, ENABLES PRE-ALARM AND FAULTS LOCALIZATION. IF A FAULT OCCURS, IT CAN PROTECT THE SYSTEM

BY FAST-BREAKING AND ANTI-ARC

MAJOR PROBLEMS."

NATARAJA M S Head, Technical Support (APAC), Sungrow

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INSIGHTS FUTURE-PROOFING ENERGY STORAGE

BATTLING REVENUE UNCERTAINTY ESS solutions generally come with a usable lifetime of ten or more years depending on the ESS technology and usage profile. But many of the crucial electricity market services that ESS offers are garnered with short-term contracts.

The demand for energy is at an all-time high.

Immense population growth and rising standards of living in developing countries are key drivers of growth in energy demand. This has led to Energy Storage Systems (ESS) playing a pivotal role in addressing the growing power demands.

A report titled “Grid-connected energy storage market tracker”, by IHS Markit, states that the global ESS market size was USD 1.5 billion in 2016 and is forecast to rise to USD 7 billion by 2025.

But it’s not all cakewalk for the industry.

While the ESS market is growing rapidly, a significant barrier to growth is financing risk. ESS assets are built to last ten years or longer; however, long-term performance data for grid-scale ESS does not exist. The Median operating lifetime of grid-scale battery energy storage systems is about four years and nine months.

Major equipment vendors release new energy storage products every 12 to 18 months, meaning that past performance may not be indicative of future results. In addition, many markets for ESS face uncertainties that make revenue forecasting a difficult task.

ESS projects often drive revenue from auxiliary services and capacity markets, which do not offer long-term contracts in the majority of cases. The procurement mechanism, as well as market value for these market services, transforms in unknown ways during the life of the ESS solution.

ENCOURAGING RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION Energy Storage Systems also complement the renewable sources of energy like solar and wind which are witnessing a significant traction in terms of deployment owing to rising pollution levels, particularly in developing economies like India and China.

Generally, we see energy storage deployment following the deployment of renewable resources like wind and solar. The reason is that energy storage is used to solve some of the grid issues that wind and solar create. These issues include grid frequency stability as well as temporal mismatch between energy production and energy consumption.

EVOLUTION OF HYBRID SYSTEMS The ESS segment is also witnessing the evolution of hybrid systems that combine solar with ESS storage systems and also other generation resources.

With solar + ESS projects, many islands and remote grids are looking at solar PV and energy storage to help offset high fuel charges. Solar + ESS can deliver evening energy at lower rates than diesel generation.

ESS is also being deployed to increase performance from existing generation assets.

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HOW CAN WE FUTURE-PROOF ENERGY STORAGE? To develop future-proof energy storage systems, storage developers should harness technology and project engineering tailored specifically for flexibility. Future-proofing also demands commercial agreements as well as analytical expertise to enhance the operational value of energy storage.

ESS projects can be future-proofed by 1) installing a flexible controls architecture, 2) planning the right way for battery capacity augmentation, and 3) tracking ongoing operation with a flexible warranty. We see flexibility as the number one factor. Battery storage can be scaled in a building-block fashion, but you can save a lot of money in future expansions if you design for expansion capacity initially.

While battery designs are changing rapidly, engineering design to ensure future flexibility is tricky.

MAXIMISING REVENUE That said, future-proofing a system is the most important measure to maximise revenue. This is valuable for an ESS operator, for whom the rate of return, which includes revenue and cost, is the most crucial aspect.

The way to maximise the rate of return is to future-proof a system by building flexibility into the design. We have systems where our customers do not have long-term contracts with their off-takers. By future-proofing an energy storage investment, we enable our customers to maximise their rate of return, regardless of underlying market conditions.

ESS SOLUTIONS GENERALLY COME WITH A USABLE LIFETIME OF TEN OR

While the factors associated with revenue generation vary from region to region by a great margin, ensuring maximum scalability for a streamlined revenue generation is a strategy backed by a large segment in the industry.

MORE YEARS DEPENDING ON THE ESS TECHNOLOGY AND USAGE PROFILE. BUT MANY OF THE CRUCIAL ELECTRICITY MARKET

HENRI VAN BOXTEL Director, South Asia, Wärtsilä Energy Business

SERVICES THAT ESS OFFERS ARE GARNERED WITH SHORT-TERM CONTRACTS.

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PERSPECTIVE WAYS ENERGY STORAGE IS FUELLING THE RENEWABLES REVOLUTION?

ACROSS THE WORLD, THERE IS AN INCREASED FOCUS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES TO COMBAT THE EXTREME IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, AND ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY A GROWING DEMAND FOR POWER FROM AN AGING GRID. THOUGH SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE, THERE IS STILL SO MUCH TO BE DONE TO SHIFT TO A PATH TOWARD A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE. ACCELERATING DEVELOPMENT OF SOLAR AND WIND PROJECTS IS A KEY TO ACHIEVING RENEWABLES GOALS, BUT THIS IS NOT ENOUGH. STORAGE SOLUTIONS MUST BE INTEGRATED TO ENSURE RENEWABLE PROJECTS CAN DELIVER POWER WHEN AND WHERE INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES NEED IT, AND MINIMIZE, OR EVEN ELIMINATE, RELIANCE ON FOSSIL FUELS. ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS CAN HELP RIDE‐THROUGH E N E R G Y T R A N S I T I O N F R O M H Y D R O C A R B O N F U E L S T O R E N E W A B L E S O U R C E S . W H A T A R E T H E W A Y S T O D O I T ? L E T 'S FIND OUT...

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EXPECTED BEHIND THE METER ENERGY STORAGE

DIBIN CHANDRAN Senior Engineer, Power & Renewables, Khatib & Alami

The year 2020 shows a drastic change in electricity energy demand pattern, i. e. , industrial loads significantly reducing, but the other sectors, including residential sectors, demonstrated growth in electricity demand (Figure 2).

Energy storage systems are on top gear in deployment for the last few years; this is mainly due to the penetration of distributed renewable generation into the electric grid and the drop in energy storage system cost.

Most of the energy storage deployments are under Gridscale/Utility-scale and Behind the meter.

Need for Grid-scale/Utility-scale energy storage

Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, get more importance in global electricity generation due to their potential to reduce fossil fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions in the electric sector (Figure 1). According to bp Statistical Review of World Energy 2020, renewable energy consumption (including biofuels but excluding hydro) grew by 12.1% in 2019. The solar energy sector has continuously increased its share of renewable generation and now makes up 26% compared with only 14% five years earlier. Wind provided the most considerable contribution to renewables' electricity generation (160 TWh), followed by solar (140TWh).

Figure 1: Renewables consumption by region and Renewables generation by source (Source: bp Statistical Review of World Energy 2020) The maximum share in the renewable mix is from solar and wind, which has uncertainty in output since its resources will vary according to the time and location.

Mass deployment of these varying powers into the electric grid can impose instability followed by its failure.

In another perspective, power generation from the renewable energy power plant varies continuously. The mass deployment of storage could overcome this issue by cycling between oversupply when the sun shines, the wind blows, and shortage when the sun sets or the wind drops. Utility-scale energy storage will enable flexible and fast response resources, so the system operators can effectively manage variability in generation and load.

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Figure 2: Electric energy consumption in different sector of India (Source: COVID-19: Impact analysis and recommendations for power sector operation, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) This change in electricity demand will have an impact on the renewable energy market. The market trends show that small-scale solar installations with energy storage will grow in this situation followed by behind the meter energy storage. As per the IEA analysis (International Energy Agency), around the globe, 2.9GW of storage capacity was added to the electric grid in 2019, which is almost 30% less than in 2018 (Figure 3). This decline in energy storage deployment is due to reduced Utilityscale energy storage installations in 2019, but it is evident that 'behind the meter' energy storage deployment gained significant improvement. The trend has continued in Y2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis; a new study released by Wood Mackenzie on the global market for energy storage systems states around 17% drop in energy storage deployment in Y2020 compared to Y2019. Also, the report states behind the meter energy storage continue to dominate annual deployments and will account for up to 70% of total yearly capacity additions to the end of the decade.

Figure 3: Annual energy storage deployment, 20132019 (Source: Energy Storage tracking report – IEA)

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OTHER FUELING FACTORS

Figure 4: Cumulative global energy storage deployment (Source: Global energy storage outlook: H2 2020, www.woodmac.com) Energy storage deployment has shown exponential growth in the last few years (except Y2019, Y2020); it was expected the sector is anticipated to record a 31% growth through 2030 according to the study by Wood Mackenzie on the global market for energy storage systems (Figure 4). One of the main reasons behind the improved 'behind the meter' energy storage deployment is the change in policy and regulations in rooftop solar systems. Since the metering arrangement is changing to net billing/gross metering methodology, power generators or plant owners are not getting the benefit the same as that of net metering. This may impose the investors to think about the hybrid system or off-grid system; also, a significant drop in battery energy storage cost catalyzes this shift.

Out of all globally accepted energy storage methodologies like pumped hydro, thermal storage, and battery storage, battery storage continued to be the most widely used, making up the newest capacity installed. In which Lithium-ion battery storage is leading the market.

Battery energy storage is still a maturing technology, and technology advancements are getting adapted rapidly into the market. Even with this rapid development and recent improvements, the battery storage faces several limitations, including uncertainty in cost on both a kW and kWh basis, life cycle limitations, and raw materials availability.

The recent development in the market made the battery system's capital cost is only part of the overall cost equation. Along with the storage device, there are costs associated with the battery management system, power conditioning, integration, and soft costs associated with installing systems. As a result, adding Solar PV into the system will not significantly differ in the system's overall financials.

Globally, the energy industries are showing fast revival from the current crisis, in which renewable energy sectors were showing promising improvements. As mentioned above, this will have a positive sign in energy storage, especially behind the meter energy storage.

AMITABH VERMA President - Operations & Technology, Aditya Birla Renewables Limited

India’s current share of renewables in electricity generation is 8% which is expected to increase to 28% by 2040. According to the draft study by the CEA into the optimal generation mix for 2030, India would need 34 GW of grid-connected battery storage producing 136 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2030. One of the biggest limitations of renewables is its non-dispatchable nature. This can be overcome by storing the energy when the generation is more than demand and releasing it when demand outstrips generation. There are a number of storage alternatives, such as pumped hydro, compressed air, flywheel, batteries and so on. However, each one has its pluses and minuses. Battery storage is ideally suited as it has low response time and not location dependent.

Currently, its biggest drawback is the high capex compared to renewable capex. To minimize the storage capacity, the hybrid of solar and wind are being used.

Needless to say, the generation curves of wind and solar are complementary in nature.

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This reduces the requirement of storage capacity.

Among all the battery technologies Li-ion batteries hold the highest potential of cost reduction because of economies of scale coming from the automotive industry. As per the experience curve the cost of Li-ion batteries is dropping by 18% for every doubling of the capacity. It is, therefore, expected that penetration of storage in energy mix will increase in following application areas: 1. Load Levelling: Storage will smoothen the demand and supply mismatch. It will store energy in times of low demand and supply energy in periods of high demand.

This way it will allow deferment of grid upgradation and reduce the issues of renewable curtailment.

2. Peak Shaving: Peak shaving is similar to load levelling, but mainly for the purpose of reducing peak demand rather than for economy of operation.

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3. Capacity Firming: The variable, intermittent power output from a renewable power generation plant, such as wind or solar, can be maintained at a committed level for a period of time. The energy storage system smoothens the output and controls the ramp rate (MW/min) to eliminate rapid voltage and power swings on the electrical grid. In many locations in India the wind and solar generations are complementary in nature. This reduces the capacity requirement of storage and hence by integrating storage with solar-wind hybrid it is possible to firm up the capacity to certain extent.

4. Frequency Regulation: Intermittent power generation from renewables and other sources, along with variable loads cause deviations from nominal frequency in the grid. Energy storage systems will restore the balance between supply and demand. The energy storage system is charged or discharged in response to an increase or decrease of grid frequency and keeps it within pre-set limits.

Installation of Tesla battery of 100 MW/129 MWh for Frequency Control Ancillary Service (FCAS) in 2017 is one much publicised installation which resulted in significant savings for the utility company. It was demonstrated that response time was less than 6 sec.

ASHISH KUMAR GM, Energy Storage Solution, Amp Energy India

Energy storage solutions are emerging Linchpin for a clean decarbonized grid, if suitably deployed, provide utility grid operators a flexible and fast responsive solution to manage the variabilities in generation & loads. Also, the meter energy storage solution provides an opportunity to C&I consumers to be self-reliant & leverage power quality benefits which translate into lower electricity bills & higher electrical infrastructure life.

Climate change concerns, global initiatives for clean & affordable energy, fast technology evolution and changing consumer consumption patterns have propelled initiatives to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse emissions leading to adoption of clean renewable energy sources. We have witnessed commitments globally across countries for adoption of clean energy and phasing out of conventional polluting energy sources. In the past few years, with structured government support, renewable energy especially solar & wind have shown multi fold adoption rate and we have reached grid parity much before expected but due to inherent variable & intermittent nature of RE, the sustainable large scale bulk adoption as an alternative to

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5. Spinning Reserve: Thermal generators have to be kept running to meet the emergency supply of higher than normal demand because of high response time.

Compared to thermal generators the batteries are nimbler and respond quickly. In many places gas generators are being replaced by batteries. It has two advantages: Firstly, by dispensing with the thermal generators the CO2 emission is reduced and secondly because of the must-run status of spinning reserves the generation capacity is freed up and can be occupied by renewables. Batteries quickly respond to a generation or transmission outage by supplying power to maintain network continuity while the back-up generator is started and brought online. This enables generators to work at optimum power output, without the need to keep idle capacity for spinning reserves. It can also eliminate the need to have back-up generators running idle.

6. DSM Charge Reduction: Reduce DSM charges by error reduction. Many states now have made day ahead scheduling mandatory and have tightened the error window and have reduced the number of revisions possible in a day. This adds to Deviation Settlement Charges. With a suitable Energy Management System (EMS) and limited battery capacity, these charges can be reduced.

conventional firm& dispatchable sources, has certain limitations and constraints from the perspective of grid reliability & resilience. Energy storage solution when integrated with Renewable Energy provides clean, firm & dispatchable power to the grid and further increases grid flexibility, reliability & resilience.

India is committed towards its clean energy targets with an ambitious goal of 450 GW RE by 2030. Integration of such a huge quantum of infirm and intermittent renewable energy would need solutions like energy storage which can be integrated across different value streams of energy.

Energy storage technologies are revolutionizing the adoption of renewable energy in multiple ways with varieties of applications for the power sector, from rural electrification/microgrids, e-mobility and behind-themeter applications to utility-scale usage. The value stack benefits of energy storage and its inherent nature to shift from load mode to generator mode and vice versa, make this as one of the most valuable, flexible & responsive solutions to grid operators/ generators/ consumers. The sharp decline in the cost of these technologies has enabled many new business opportunities across different applications and the trend will continue for the next couple of years.

Utility-scale energy storage can increase feed-in of renewables into the grid by storing excess generation or curtailment and increasing grid resilience by firming renewable energy output. Furthermore, particularly when

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integrated with RE, energy storage solutions provide clean, reliable, and cheaper power in isolated or unstable grids and to off-grid /rural communities, which otherwise might rely on expensive diesel fuel for electricity generation. In India, we have seen multiple tenders from SECI/NTPC/NLC in line with these applications and a few of them are now in operational contributing to the larger welfare to the society.

The ancillary services are one of the other most important value streams of utility scale energy storage. In foreign countries, we can clearly see the real time market dynamics in this segment and the usage of energy storage to overall optimize & increase returns. In India, with policy changes & regulatory measures we can see a revolutionary change in this market segment.

The behind-the-meter (BTM) energy storage solutions are connected behind the utility meter of commercial, industrial, or residential customers, primarily aiming at electricity bill savings via value stacking of different applications of energy storage like diesel consumption reduction, power quality improvement, critical backups, microgrids etc. In India, we can visualize the commercial realization and adoption of energy storage by C&I customers on its own merit by value stacking without any major incentive/subsidy from the government.

Further, the faster adoption of rooftop solar for residential customers has developed a new business opportunity for residential energy storage solutions. We

DR. LOVELYN THERESA Application Research Expert, Arbutus Consultants Pvt Ltd

“Energy, Environment and Economy matters to everyone and we all play a role in shaping its future.”

Energy experts began to evaluate alternatives of the brown to green energy transition and to ensure the longterm viability of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower. Globally, countries will have to rebuild or expand their grids to address the present as well as the rising energy demands (predicted to grow by 60% in 2040, 2019 Outlook for Energy).

On the whole, the policymakers, business developers, skilled technicians, power producers and consumers face a dual challenge – to provide reliable energy to afford the mounting demand, and at the same time, to minimize the environmental impacts by vindicating carbon emissions. Not only driven by policies, but also by technological advances and guided consumer choices, energy storage (ES) technologies such as thermal storage, hydrogen storage, batteries, pumped hydro, and so on, when employed properly provides a huge contribution towards the continual supply of

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have already witnessed revolution in this segment by new entrants (non-power companies) like Tesla in the USA and Sonnen in Germany. In India it is still at a nascent stage, but this could be another dark horse market with potential to completely overturn the present relationship between utilities/DISCOMS and retail consumers.

The next wave of revolution within the energy storage segment can be witnessed when we see its integration with other fast-evolving markets of e-mobility & real time trading businesses. Many business models like V2G, virtual power plants, real time trading etc. are waiting to create a storm in the market, having the potential to completely disrupt the present ecosystem of the existing market.

The impact of energy storage is far-reaching, as not only does it address the issues faced by large scale adoption of renewable energy, but it also fundamentally challenges the longstanding relationship between DISCOMS/utilities and their customers. The disruptive potential of energy storage extends across different value streams of energy and all the stakeholders will be impacted directly or indirectly in near future if not today.

The inevitable potential disruption of energy storage with its sharp price decline has forced stakeholders to come out from their comfort zone and strategize mechanisms for faster and smoother adoption of energy storage across the value streams of the energy sector.

energy from the renewable sources, thereby mitigating the impacts of climate change.

Today, various configurations of hydrogen are available, which is used to store renewable energy, generated by solar and wind power. Hydrogen is a powerful fuel source, especially when it comes to mobility and electrification of vehicles. However, the ability of hydrogen storage technology as a makeover during the period of intermittence is still under debate for a largescale continual power generation for a commercial or a utility-scale project employing renewables. Another complexity of ES and grid compatibility arises at times of power plant expansions or while employing cutting down capabilities for various reasons, which used to be controllable and simpler comparatively, in cases of thermal or coal power plant extensions. (https://energystorageforum.com/news/hydrogenenergy-revolution; insideclimatenew.com) Of all available renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, biogas, small-hydro and so on, hydropower is one of the most commercially advanced. However, a few decades ago, the existing energy storage systems were pumped from hydropower on a major scale (www.edfenergy.com). Recently, battery energy storage systems account for much of this current growth in ES, mainly due to its innumerous technological adoptions,

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modularity, extensibility and reliability, which has in turn contributed to a drop in battery’s market prices.

Among the prior existing issues encountered in the country with renewables, the foremost being the continual rising demand from the aging grid. The issues which follow up were the uninterpreted power outages due to grid overloading and islanding, distributed power losses and improper grid-storage integration. Even though several storage technologies were on the run, optimization of the storage systems to support smart grids for the debauched responses and smart dispatches has to be carried out for better storage inverter solutions.

Also, integrating intelligent energy storage and optimization of the same using artificial intelligence (AI) for timely deployment & distribution of the storage during insufficient hours of operation of the renewables, provides an effective long-term resolution.

Irrespective of the above views and opinions, there are innumerable ways in which ES could support and contribute to the development and deployment of renewables such as solar and wind in the renewable energy (RE) sector. Out of which the contribution of storages towards electrification, sustainability and energy resilience serves to fulfill the present need of the hour.

Contribution towards Energy Sustainability: – A lot of reputed organizations were involved in power purchase agreements (PPAs) and they seek reducing or eliminating the purchase or use of fossil fueled generation on 24/7 basis in the long run, though not instantly. By integrating ES, companies will be able to negotiate their shaped PPAs. (ie.,) both the companies’ load and RE are time-shifted to match the companies’ business needs. It also minimizes the virtual PPAs (vPPAs) and the RE credits sourced from other countries.

Hence, pairing of ES with on-site solar/wind enables installation of additional capacity in minimizing the purchase of brown energy.

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Supports Electrification : –

Increasing e-mobility sectors and the Electric vehicles (EVs) growth was estimated to be 57% by 2040 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance) and the same percentage was projected for the upsurge of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in the U.S., Europe and China as well. Hence, an exponential demand will be created in near future for an extensive need for electrical power and charging stations, specifically from the RE sources. This is not only because of the emerging technological trends, but also an alternative, mainly, for carbon footprint reduction.

Builds Energy Resilience : Energy resilience is about ensuring that a business has a reliable, regular supply of energy and contingency measures in place in the event of a power failure. The major causes of resilience were unacquainted power surges, weather, natural disasters, accidents and even due to equipment failure. Intelligent ES provides on-site resilience to unplanned power disruptions, and also reduces dependencies on diesel backup. Also, solar combined with ES can create microgrid systems generating energy to power critical loads until the connected utility service is restored. Combined renewables-storage ensures better safety, power continuity and prevents losses associated with power outages & recovery.

It can be construed that ES technologies should refuel renewables in order to provide a 24-hour source of energy that competes with fossil fuel generation in a more efficient and an effective way to merge the demand-supply gaps in the RE production.

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PERSPECTIVE HOW STORAGE CAN ENHANCE YOUR SOLAR ROOFTOP PROJECT?

STORAGE PROVIDES FLEXIBILITY TO THE GRID AND IS ABLE TO ENSURE UNINTERRUPTED DISPATCHABLE, PREDICTABLE AND RELIABLE POWER TO SATISFY THE ENERGY NEEDS OF THE CONSUMERS WHENEVER NEEDED. ROOFTOP SOLAR IS BEING WELL ACCEPTED BY C&I CUSTOMERS WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO ABOUT 70% OF THE SOLAR ROOFTOP CAPACITY. ROOFTOP SOLAR WITH STORAGE PROVIDES A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO ENSURE GREATER UPTAKE OF ROOFTOP SOLAR POWER BY CUSTOMERS. THIS COMBINATION IS A WIN-WIN SOLUTION FOR BOTH END CONSUMERS AS WELL AS THE DISCOMS. ALSO, IT CAN BE SAID THAT THE DECLINING COST OF STORAGE, ALONG WITH THAT OF ROOFTOP SOLAR INSTALLATIONS, IS LIKELY TO CHANGE THE FUTURE DYNAMICS OF THE INDIAN POWER SECTOR. PLEASE READ ON TO FIND OUT MORE...

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VINAYAK KATHARE Head, New Initiatives, Fourth Partner Energy

With a mature solar industry in India, financial and carbon footprint benefits of a solar rooftop are obvious and widely known. However, the fact that these benefits can further be enhanced with energy storage is less explored. Though the cost of energy storage, especially that of Li-Ion battery storage, is little prohibitive for widespread adoption of energy storage for all the possible applications where it provides a perfect technical solution; certainly, there are applications even today where storage provides significant commercial benefits.

First such application is for commercial clients in high tariff states such as Maharashtra; and, warehouses are a perfect example of the same. If you keep the solar capacity below contract demand, which is required as per the regulations, you can cater to 30 to 50% of total energy demand with a solar rooftop. However, a solar rooftop coupled with energy storage can cater to 100% of the energy demand including the peak hour demands.

Such solutions can provide 20 to 30% more financial savings to consumers and can be offered in the OPEX model as well. Even consumers who cannot install more than 1MWp of solar capacity with net-metering, can install higher capacity with energy storage to cater to their peak hour and night time demand. For such applications which need more than 5 hours of energy storage, alternative storage technologies such as Vanadium flow batteries should also be evaluated.

Solar capacity firming, where an on-site solar power plant is synchronized with a thermal power plant, is the second application where energy storage has started to make commercial sense. Varying nature of solar power output, and especially the sudden drops and increases in monsoon due to cloud passing, asks for sudden ramping up or ramping down of thermal power plants for power balancing. This not only causes stress on thermal power plants and makes them run inefficiently; but some customers also end up paying a penalty to the power distribution companies or paying higher tariff for the balancing power drawn from the grid. With energy storage, the power output curve of solar can be smoothened making the ramp-up or ramp-down demands from thermal power plants more gradual and within acceptable limits.

Third application of energy storage is for industrial customers who run batch processes and have an online UPS to cater to the same. Online UPS can have an inherent energy loss of up to 8% which can be avoided by replacing it with an Off-Line bi-directional inverter + battery storage.

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However, it is critical that such a solution have a response time of < 100 ms to switch from On-Grid to OffGrid mode to make sure the batch process goes uninterrupted. Such solutions are available in the market.

Even though not strictly a solar rooftop application, same PCS + Storage can be stacked up with or without solar for multiple applications like ToD tariff benefits, and PF correction.

Finally, there is the most obvious application of energy storage where a consumer is facing daily power outages and ends up running a diesel generator. In such cases, solar output could get curtailed while synchronizing it with a diesel generator. However, with energy storage, solar can run up to its full capacity and usage of diesel generators can be minimized. A reliable outlook of future stable power supply availability from the grid will make the consumer choose between taking the plunge with energy storage or continue using diesel generators for a short period of time.

For all these applications, and especially quite so for solar capacity firming, it is extremely important to capture and analyze large amounts of data of the existing power demand and supply profiles. The fact that such data is not easily available, makes optimum sizing of energy storage challenging. In such cases, it is better to install energy monitoring devices and capture such data before sizing for energy storage. Also, it is important to acknowledge that each energy storage solution is a customized one for a particular requirement and only a thorough effort can result in an optimal solution.

With increasing regulatory constraints for grid-reference solar rooftop, energy storage provides an opportunity for the consumers to have better control over the contribution of solar in their overall power supply. With Li-Ion battery costs falling around 15% YoY and advancements in alternative energy storage technologies, there is little doubt that energy storage will become ubiquitous with solar rooftop in 2 to 4 years from now.

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NIMESH GUPTA Consultant, New Products & Electric Vehicle, Amplus Solar

One of the critical constraints of current solar setups compared with traditional fuel-based generating systems has always been its inability to provide schedulable power. Failure to control its energy source, the Sun in case of Solar Energy leads to an inability to provide the same energy the load requires. This means you must run the system in conjunction with a flexible source, grid power, in most cases. Depending on grid power for your captive solar plant comes with strings attached. Netmetering regulation varies from state to state and is becoming increasingly strict as utilities continue to resist the business model. In the absence of a grid, the current solar system discontinues working until a reference voltage is provided. Diesel Genset integration comes with its issues and does not offer the kind of linear savings one would expect due to constraints with the genset technology. Adding energy storage technology to the solar generating system provides much-needed flexibility and helps circumvent most of these issues. It provides the ability to work in an off-grid mode, thus providing backup to the critical load during blackouts.

Valuing energy resilience can increase the benefits of having storage as a part of your solar system.

In the absence of net-metering regulation, a battery can be used to size the solar system to the maximum area available instead of sizing just for the baseload. The battery can be used for supply-demand matching, thus significantly increasing the solar power in the total power mix. This can lead to more considerable savings in your energy cost compared to the only solar system due to the system's increased size. Since releasing the stored energy is easily customizable, the same power can benefit from demand reduction or reduce peak tariff time consumption. This freedom to use the same energy storage asset to value stack, to provide backup, ramp up PV production, reduce peak time charges, etc., is what makes it attractive. Though the market of providing grid services from behind the meter storage assets does not currently exist in India, it is safe to say, with current

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policy direction, that it's not a question of if, but when; when will this market open up. This can potentially provide an additional revenue stream in the future from your battery asset.

Typically, net-metering regulation capacity restriction is lower of the sanctioned load or present maximum limit (1 MW in most states). There is a use case for energy storage that I would like to highlight for states where the net-metering capacity restriction is on AC capacity instead of DC capacity. Depending on the irradiation levels and project conditions in such cases, DC capacity is 20-30% oversized than the AC capacity. Anything more leads to clipping losses, meaning Inverter will clip any excess power being generated by panels than its capacity. So, 500 KW inverters will cut any power above 500 KW being fed into it, leading to losses. By combining the energy storage on the DC side of the system through a DC-DC converter, the system can be designed to store this excess energy in such cases. As everyone is aware, solar production is a bell curve producing peak power only for a few hours. One needs to size the battery to store only this peak power of a few hours above the inverter nameplate reading. This can help one design the system with DC capacity way over 20-30% meaning more low-cost solar energy can be generated with the same AC capacity. A consumer can now take the benefit of net-metering along with increased solar generation. Even with the increased landed energy cost because of storage, customers can benefit from more enormous savings due to more production. Again, the energy stored can be dispatched based on a customizable logic, enabling value stacking as described above.

As battery pack prices continue to decrease and more behind the meter customized battery products make their way into the market, it is a matter of time before we start seeing most solar rooftop projects having some storage component.

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SIDHARTH CHOUDHARY Assistant Vice President, Invest India

India has set ambitious targets for rooftop solar as part of the larger goal of 175 GW renewable energy by 2022.

Currently, the country stands at around 6 GW of rooftop solar capacity, with the bulk installed by large C&I customers. COVID-19 and its concomitant effects has resulted in a slowing down of activity in this key mission.

But there have been a few bright spots such as the state of Gujarat (more than 40% of rooftop capacity added in 2020), and Delhi where the government has installed solar on government infrastructure including schools.

While a bulk of current rooftop solar deployments have been at large C&I facilities, the large MSME sector remains untapped. This sector accounts for a third of the GDP and a quarter of energy consumption in the Industrial sector, and in many cases the energy costs go up to 30% of operating income. But due to lack of awareness, and various financial and technical hurdles the sector remains underserved. But the overall growth of the rooftop solar market leaves much to be desired especially in light of the growth of diesel gensets and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems in India.

Such power backup systems are forecasted to have an increase in demand across the residential, commercial, and industrial segments in the coming decade. It is interesting to note that this accompanies the steady growth of electricity access in the country; a sad testament of the state of our power system.

The most obvious benefit of combining energy storage with a rooftop solar project (solar + storage) is power backup and ability to island during grid outage events.

Moreover, it allows for part- or full-mitigation of solar resource intermittency, and utilisation of excess energy produced during the day at night. In the case of C&I customers, it could also be beneficial in ensuring higher power quality and peak demand mitigation. Overall, an energy storage system will make the rooftop solar system much more effective. A “tightly integrated” solar + storage system could be a driver for further energy efficiency on the demand side and could lead to both reduction in the size of the storage system as well as deeper integration with smart load devices.

However, the market for solar + storage systems is still not mature. But many positives abound such as the rapidly declining costs of battery storage, and focus on integration of storage systems with solar systems to leverage shared efficiencies. Evolving business models could make consumer sited solar + storage a win-win for both discoms and end consumers. While storage will

undoubtedly reduce the revenue from electricity sales to consumers, it will enable deferment of expensive system upgrades, management of system congestion, and evolution of alternate ancillary services’ markets.

Although some configurations of behind-the-meter storage systems are already financially viable, there needs to be further cost reductions to enable widespread adoption across consumer segments. This phenomenon is already underway with global manufacturing economies of scale and improvements in battery technology. Additionally, the recently announced production-linked incentive scheme for battery manufacturing could spur local manufacturing and cost savings in India. Another key step to accelerate viability is exploiting the combined capabilities of rooftop solar and energy storage using interventions such as AIenabled control systems which can integrate solar production, local demand, weather forecasts, battery condition, and energy prices to deliver an economic benefit to the customer.

The deployment of solar in India is heavily skewed towards centralised utility scale power plants. However, certain consumer segments such as C&I and MSMEs are already primed to take advantage of the benefits of distributed solar + storage systems due to factors such as reliability of supply, need for higher power quality, regulatory uncertainty and cross subsidy burden. Some of the same concerns apply to other user categories as well including large residential and agricultural consumers as evidenced by the growth of the backup supply market.

The addition of behind-the-meter energy storage could be a game changer for India. It will enable meeting of national emissions and rooftop solar targets as well as enhance ease of access to reliable energy while helping the country leapfrog to a smarter, greener, and more efficient electricity grid.

ALTHOUGH SOME CONFIGURATIONS OF BEHIND-THEMETER STORAGE SYSTEMS ARE ALREADY FINANCIALLY VIABLE, THERE NEEDS TO BE FURTHER COST REDUCTIONS TO ENABLE WIDESPREAD ADOPTION ACROSS CONSUMER SEGMENTS.

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SUSHIL KUMAR SARAWGI Founder Director, Kor Energy India Pvt Ltd

At any point in time, electric generation must equal consumption unless there is a means of storing the energy. Storage offers the ability to preserve electricity generated at one point in time and use it at another point in time to balance variable generation sources and variable loads. Energy storage is also one of the only grid resources that can be both loaded when a system is charging (storing) and generation when the system is discharging (consuming stored energy).

Rooftop Solar Projects without storage have been ineffective in providing total substitute for grid electricity because sun is available for certain part of the day only and not all the time. Hence Rooftop Solar without storage is unable to solve energy requirements of non solar hours. Availability of efficient and economical storage solutions will solve this problem and make rooftop solar capable of meeting maximum energy requirements of establishments thus reducing dependence on grid. For distcom also lesser dependence of consumers on grid electricity will make them spend less on transmission and distribution infrastructure and also reduced inefficiencies of transmission and distribution losses.

Grid Connected Solar Systems with net metering have the advantage of exporting extra energy produced by Rooftop Solar Plants to the grids. With net metering now many challenges have been faced by distcoms at various places and consumers are facing apathy of distcoms for net metering arrangements especially for big consumers. In many states net metering for commercial and industrial consumers have already been discontinued. This non availability of net metering is leading to loss of unutilized energy produced by Rooftop Solar Plants.

Efficient and Cost effective storage systems can be of great boost for these solar systems without net metering so that the stored energy can be used in Non Grid or Non Solar times.

Further it will reduce the dependence on Diesel Generator sets when grid power is not available as ready backup through storage will be available. In many places we witness ban on diesel gensets due to pollution related issues.

Other Benefits of Using Rooftop Solar with Storage are 1) Power Quality : Short duration events such as a power interruption can degrade the quality of power delivered to a customer to serve on-site load. Battery Storage systems can provide protection from poor power quality by discharging to smooth out the disturbance for a few seconds to a few minutes.

2) Power Reliability : Power reliability refers to the duration of unbroken electrical service. Back-up systems that effectively supply power for onsite customer load during total power loss from the grid, including energy storage systems, can improve power reliability by eliminating or decreasing the duration of outages 3) Retail Energy Time Shift : Retail energy time shift describes the practice of charging storage systems during one time period and discharging (consuming) the stored energy at another time. This practice is used to reduce overall costs of electricity because customers store energy during off-peak time periods and discharge the stored energy during on-peak time periods when higher time-of-use (TOU) charges apply.

4) Demand Charge Management : Customers can also use energy storage to reduce the overall costs for electric service by reducing their demand during peak periods Hence Storage has to play a very important role in the success of use of Rooftop Solar and there is a need of having cost effective and reliable storage solutions for better adoption of Solar energy.

STORAGE OFFERS THE ABILITY TO PRESERVE ELECTRICITY GENERATED AT ONE POINT IN TIME AND USE IT AT ANOTHER POINT IN TIME TO BALANCE VARIABLE GENERATION SOURCES AND VARIABLE LOADS.

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DRIMSON FERNANDES Junior Technical Expert, GIZ

batteries provides up to 8 – 10 units a day, the excess of which can be stored in the batteries to be used during the evening and off-peak hours.

An illustration on the working of a residential rooftop PV plus battery system is given below

Solar rooftop projects have been picking up in India especially due to growing awareness among the residential, commercial and industrial consumers. The cost of solar rooftop has also drastically reduced in recent years owing to lowered costs for components and competition from other installers. Additionally, the Government of India has subsidies available for residential consumers under the Phase II of the Grid connected rooftop solar programme by MNRE adding to the accessibility of rooftop solar power.

Figure 2: Indicative charging and discharging cycles for residential rooftop PV system with battery storage

Figure 1: The PV Port & Store: A plug-n-play, behind the meter solar system with storage designed by GIZ Solar along with storage presents itself as the next big developing technology that is likely to take precedence in the coming years. Coupled with the comparatively low prices for rooftop solar combined with the reducing costs of lithium batteries, solar plus battery storage can be a viable option for residential, commercial and especially industrial consumers.

Commercial and industrial consumers currently face a combination of high electricity costs, as well as recurrent disruptions in the power supply. These issues can be addressed by adding storage to rooftop solar, which assists by reducing dependence on the grid and lowering the contracted demand. Additionally, rooftop solar plus storage can replace diesel gensets used for power backup by such consumers by providing reliable and comparatively economical backup support.

As for residential consumers, the advantages are in terms of benefits such as availability of clean and reliable power, availability of backup power in case of power cuts and lowered electricity costs especially for consumers facing Time of Day (ToD) charges as well as paying power in upper tariff slab. An example of a solar plus storage system based on lithium or lead acid batteries and which is primarily designed for the residential sector is the PV Port & Store developed by GIZ. The 2 kWp behind the meter solar system with | DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

As observed in Figure 2, storage added to a PV system can help offset and shift the energy generated during the off-peak times in the day to be utilized in the evening or peak hours, thus reducing dependence on the grid. An argument that most residential consumers quote is that net-metering without storage is more beneficial to them financially. But a point worth considering is the fact that most DISCOMs see net-metering as a burden both technically and financially, thus limiting their willingness to promote solar rooftop. The Phase II of the grid connected rooftop solar programme has eased some of the burden by providing financial incentives and by making DISCOMs the nodal point for residential rooftop installations. Additionally, the Government of India has come out with the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, which provides for net-metering for loads only up to 10 kW and gross metering for loads above 10 kW. The benefits of distributed rooftop solar plus battery storage also extend to DISCOMs, leading to reduction in augmentation of existing transmission and distribution networks, better and reliable power supply and in meeting peak demand and Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs). This eventually results in lower operating costs for the DISCOMs, the benefits of which can be passed on to the consumers or be utilized for other productive activities. The use of multiple distributed rooftop PV systems with battery storage also provides for an opportunity to employ and aggregate the cumulative capacities of the individual systems in the form of a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) for peak load management and other ancillary services.

In conclusion, rooftop solar PV plus storage will result in major disruptions in the energy production scenario in the near future owing to further reduction in costs and domestic manufacturing capability especially for lithium cells and batteries. It would be only prudent that consumers in India take advantage of the opportunities that this technology presents.

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ANIMESH DAMANI Managing Partner, Artha Energy Resources

outage. Large-scale implementation of rooftop solar with energy storage is an ultimate solution to counter the impact caused by fossil fuels. Large-scale deployment of solar with storage systems in rural areas will also boast employment at various job levels while reducing the need for long transmission lines.

Evolving technologies in energy storage and suitable options for rooftop in C&I space

India aims to add 40 GW of installed rooftop solar capacity by 2022. To achieve this target energy storage systems will play a huge role across segments in the rooftop category in the coming times. Solar panels generate energy only while the sun is shining which makes it an incomplete solution in supplying round the clock power. This is why the importance of storing energy to supply continuous and uninterrupted power comes under picture to fully harness the power of solar.

Solar batteries work by storing excess energy produced by solar panels for later use instead of sending it back to the grid. The higher your battery's capacity, the more solar energy it can store. If there is more electricity produced than required, the excess energy goes towards charging the battery. Later, when the sun is not shining, energy stored in the battery can be utilized. It is possible to export the Excess electricity to the grid when the battery is fully charged, and electricity can be drawn from the grid when the battery is depleted. This reduces the fluctuations in consumer demand that is met by the grid.

In India, we have seen the cost of Solar energy falling in over 10 years from INR 18/Kwh to INR 1.99/kWh in India.

Similarly, the cost of utility-scale lithium-ion batteries have also reduced over time and the battery storage technology has improved drastically. According to the Central Electricity Authority, about 34 gigawatts (GW)/136 GWh of battery storage is needed to be installed by 2030 to achieve the country’s renewable energy target of 460 GW. Meanwhile, in the past one year, India has seen a surge in issuance of storage tenders -- both big and small. Cost of battery storage is expected to reduce by 15-20 per cent and fall in the range of $250-$270 per kilowatt hour (kWh) by 2021 from the present range of $300-$320 per kWh, according to research firm JMK Research & Analytics.

There are four types of battery technologies that pair with rooftop solar systems: Lead acid batteries; are the tried and tested technology used in the solar battery space. These are reliable and cost effective and come in two types: flooded lead acid batteries & sealed lead acid batteries. Lithium-ion batteries: the newest technology in the solar energy storage space, it requires less maintenance and has higher battery energy density with a longer shelf life. Nickel based batteries, these are not widely used but are durable and operate at extreme temperatures. Flow batteries are an emerging technology in the energy storage sector. They contain a water-based electrolyte liquid that flows between two separate chambers, or tanks, within the battery. When charged, chemical reactions occur which allow the energy to be stored and subsequently discharged. These batteries are now beginning to rise in popularity. Each of these battery backup power technologies has its own set of unique characteristics.

Comparing the cost of Grid Tariff with Solar + Storage Systems Despite the current soaring prices of storage, solar plus storage systems are already cheaper against the tariffs of certain states (see chart below). It is only a matter of time before these get cheaper and generate large savings..

Benefits for opting for energy storage.

With energy storage batteries, consumers are in control, they can use solar generated electricity when they want and not when electric companies tell them. Net energy metering allows customers who generate their own electricity from solar panels and sell the excess electricity generated back to the grid or store it in storage batteries. However, in India, due to lack of uniform net energy metering policies varying from state-to-state net metering is not a viable option for all. Moreover, recent regulations that limit the net-metering capacity to 10KW exacerbate the need of commercially viable storage as an alternative. Hence, energy storage is the key to optimize power generated from solar, the power generated during non-peak hours could be stored & used when the demand surges during peak hours without depending on grid power. Battery storage also offers short-term power backup power in events of power

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Source: - JMK Research Conclusion With ambitious plans to use renewables – particularly solar PV – to satisfy rapidly increasing electricity demand, India will be the country with the greatest need for energy storage capacity in the coming decade. Over the next two decades, global growth in batteries is set to outperform that of any other flexibility option available to electricity systems, according to the World Energy Outlook 2019. Battery storage coupled with solar PV will appear as the most costeffective ways of supplying affordable electricity. Given India’s love-hate relationship with net-metering, the future of energy storage in India looks bright.

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PERSPECTIVE HOW DOES THE GROWTH PATH LOOK LIKE FOR A HYDROGEN-BASED ECONOMY IN INDIA?

THE POTENTIAL SCALE OF HYDROGEN USE IN INDIA IS HUGE AND CAN INCREASE IN A RANGE BETWEEN 3 TIMES AND 10 TIMES BY 2050, FACILITATING THE TRANSITION TO A CARBON NEUTRAL ECONOMY, ACCORDING TO THE ENERGY AND RESOURCES INSTITUTE. HYDROGEN BEING THE CLEANEST SOURCE OF ENERGY, GREEN HYDROGEN IS A NEXT GENERATION FUEL. BEING EMISSION FREE AND HAVING THREE TIMES HIGHER ENERGY CONTENT PER UNIT MASS THAN GASOLINE, GREEN HYDROGEN IS BEING LOOKED AT AS A PREFERRED FUEL SOURCE FOR BOTH TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE APPLICATIONS. HYDROGEN MAY BE A SUITABLE OPTION DUE TO THE LOWER CAPITAL COSTS OF DEVELOPING HYDROGEN STORAGE FACILITIES AT SCALE, INCLUDING SALT CAVERNS OR STEEL TANKS. WE ASKED OUR EXPERTS TO THROW LIGHT ON THE TOPIC AND HERE IS WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY…

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DEEPAK KUMAR THAKUR Partner L&L Partners take any solid step towards harnessing hydrogen with the renewable energy sector and the coastline.

PUSPAK CHAMARIYA Associate L&L Partners

With a global push for sustainability and new trends in hydrogen sourced energy, nations across the globe are seeing potential and pumping money to explore hydrogen as a legitimate alternate to conventional energy. In this direction, the Government of India has already made its intent clear regarding the increased focus on hydrogen-based energy.

While hydrogen itself is not an energy source, it needs to be converted into electricity through the fuel-cell technology, which is the fulcrum of hydrogen-sourced power. While producing Brown Hydrogen (produced from coal by gasification), Grey Hydrogen (produced from natural gas by steam methane reforming) and Blue Hydrogen (produced from fossil fuels) itself can be a pollution intensive process today, the prospect of Green Hydrogen is appealing.

When the process of electrolysis is used to break down the compound water into hydrogen and oxygen, with the use of electricity produced from wind/solar energy, the resultant hydrogen is called Green Hydrogen. Green Hydrogen has been a topic of sparkling interest in global energy forums as a futuristic solution to the world’s energy and pollution problems.

The challenge for the development of hydrogen sourced power is the lack of existing infrastructure, which can be used for the production, transportation and storage of hydrogen. Innovations and government policy push coupled with major investment, is needed within this segment to explore ideas for overcoming these challenges, as other countries are already doing.

Slow Movement on Government Policies in India

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had initiated the National Hydrogen Energy Road Map program as early as in 2006. However, there has been a lack of output from the program, without any strong policies or incentives to develop interest in this sector.

In recent times, the Government of India with an eye on incentivizing hydrogen-based energy since 2018, slashed GST rates on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to 12% from 28%, as it continues to be levied on petrol, diesel and CNG vehicles. This policy change, in retrospect, seems only symbolic, as the first fuel-cell car in India is yet to hit the roads. While developed countries like the USA, Germany, Japan are already running hydrogenfuelled cars and buses, India is far behind, with zero options in the segment.

India has taken leaps in production of renewable energy but is ailed by the lack of storage capacity for the energy produced. Hydrogen allows for storing renewable energy in large quantum for long periods of time, so that renewable energy can be used as and when needed, and not just when produced, thereby reducing the recurring wastage of energy.

In the transportation sector, hydrogen-fuelled cars using the fuel-cell technology could transform the industry, with almost-zero carbon emissions and efficiency for long haul travel. To mobilize the sector and increase participation among manufacturers, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notified a draft notification GSR 436(E) dated July 10, 2020 with proposed amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 for inclusion of the standards for safety evaluation of vehicles being propelled through hydrogen fuel-cells. This inclusion is one of the biggest steps towards a future that envisages hydrogen-power as an alternative to conventional fuel source. However, it is a worrying concern that despite this draft notification is yet to be finalised and indicates only slow movement in the sector.

The vast coastline of India spanning across the southern half of the country, from Gujarat to West Bengal, provides many conducive propositions for a future with hydrogenbased energy due to the geographical advantage that Indian territory has. While the United Kingdom and other countries are exploring the technology to use sea water for hydrogen production via electrolysis, India is yet to

Despite the patchy and staggered movement in this unknown sector in the past, the new-found interest and charisma in employing hydrogen-sourced power is a welcome sight, especially with the focus of the Government of India, which is proactive and aggressive in implementing renewable alternatives to conventional sources of energy.

Green Hydrogen in India

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DR. CHAKRADHAR BYREDDY Director, Renewables, Asia Pacific, UL

Hydrogen is the simplest and lightest chemical element, high in energy and available abundantly in the universe.

It has been used as a fuel by space agencies such as NASA as early as the 1970s. More recently, hydrogen as an energy carrier is being applied in fuel cell electric vehicles.

Yet, the potential of hydrogen as a commercialized fuel and energy carrier on a mass scale has mostly remained untapped thus far due to the economic costs involved.

As hydrogen only occurs in combination with other elements on Earth and not as a gas, it needs to be separated. The most common method has been through catalysis or diffusion (thermal processes) of hydrocarbon fuels such as methane. However, the economic cost of producing 'blue' hydrogen from fossil fuels is high and leads to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). On the other hand, renewables (solar, wind, and hydro) are the ideal and sustainable energy source for producing 'green' hydrogen using electrolysis methods. Renewable energy costs are dipping due to economies of scale and the emergence of superior technologies for deployment in production and transmission. Thus, the economic cost of creating hydrogen from renewable energy sources has also come down. India, one of the leading countries in investments and plans for using renewable energy, is taking nascent steps towards a hydrogen-based economy.

The Indian scenario

Set to launch the National Hydrogen Energy Mission that envisages building green hydrogen plants powered by renewable energy sources, India is at an early stage of adoption. The hydrogen mission will likely aim to foster hydrogen as a transportation fuel and possible storage applications. India's ever-increasing renewable energy production is causing a reduction of green power cost, giving it an advantage in jumping the curve in green hydrogen production and application in the future. The benefits of the adoption of green hydrogen are aplenty.

Climate Conference. Green hydrogen is good for society, as it will promote an environment-friendly and circular fuel. For Indians, it is right from the standpoint of potential cost savings in the long-term.

So, how can India fast track the shift to a green hydrogen-based economy? What are the lessons it can learn from countries that are moving steadfastly to the hydrogen economy?

Successful models that India can emulate The Australian Government has established an AUD 300 million fund under its National Hydrogen Strategy to remove the barriers to developing the green hydrogen industry. The roadblocks could be the lack of supporting infrastructure or the prohibitive cost of hydrogen supply.

The Australian Government will invest the fund solely as concessional finance for green hydrogen projects.

Further, it has shortlisted several commercial green hydrogen projects of at least 10 MW capacity (using the electrolysis method) for funding from another AUD 1.62 billion funds. These projects aim to produce green hydrogen for applications such as transportation, power, and industrial uses. Australia has also rolled out pilot projects to find new use cases and improve the production cost economics to enable the country to meet future domestic and foreign demand for green hydrogen. Already Australia has signed agreements with Japan and South Korea for future hydrogen exports.

Another focus area it has identified is the development of international technical safety standards considering the risks of hydrogen and reducing compliance costs for exports. Hydrogen is highly flammable, has lower ignition energy, and can cause severe frostbites during skin contact.

There are many takeaways for India in the Australian model. The focus should be on keeping down input costs and energy storage by introducing globally proven technologies. Equally important must be the safety mechanisms throughout the lifecycle - production, storage, transportation, and transmission. For instance, liquefaction of hydrogen is a solution that solves the challenge of safe transportation. A long-term roadmap on beginning large-scale green hydrogen production, possible applications, creating an R&D ecosystem, and safety mechanisms can be a good starting point. India holds promise to build a green hydrogen-based economy in the future, considering its experience and success on the renewable energy front.

Green hydrogen is good for India from an economic standpoint – a hydrogen mission will attract investments from the public and private sectors and lead to employment generation vital in the post COVID era. A hydrogen mission will enable India to meet its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a signatory to the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its commitments under the 2015 Paris

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PERSPECTIVES

CAN BATTERY STORAGE PROPEL

ENERGY TRANSITION FOR INDIA? WILL INCLUSION OF POLICY FRAMEWORK HELP?

BATTERIES HAVE BEEN IN USE FOR SOME TIME BUT SO FAR NOT ON A SCALE THAT COULD SUPPORT THE GRID. THE INCREASED USE OF BATTERIES WOULD HELP DECARBONISE THE POWER SECTOR AND BRING DOWN EMISSIONS AND HENCE PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES CAUSED BY AIR POLLUTION. INCLUSION OF POLICY FRAMEWORK WILL BE HELPFUL TO START ANCILLARY SERVICES AND FREQUENCY REGULATION THROUGH ENERGY STORAGE AS A FLEXIBLE ASSET. IT WILL ALSO HELP TO ENABLE ELECTRIC VEHICLES (EVS) CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, V2G (VEHICLE TO GRID) CONCEPTS, AND MICROGRID INTEGRATION WITH EXPANDED GRID CONNECTIVITY IN THE LONG RUN. READ ON TO FIND OUT OUR EXPERTS’ OPINIONS ON THE SAME...

DR. RASHI GUPTA Founder & Managing Director , Vision Mechatronics Private Ltd India with an ambitious target of 450GW renewable generation by 2030 has achieved 86GW of renewable capacity recently. The falling price of renewable generators and global concern for climate change is driving the demand for renewable generation.

Renewable generation being intermittent in nature cannot match load and demand. Grid-feed of renewables has been adopted using net metering to counter this issue. However, this directly affects revenue of DISCOMs. This has resulted in lack of support from DISCOMs for renewable generations. Several states have put limitations on the maximum size of rooftop solar projects which can implement net metering. The rising cost of energy is driving the commercial and industrial sector to move from conventional grid-based supply towards integrating renewable generation. However, lack of support for net metering is proving a hurdle in their path.

Another concern with increasing the share of renewables in the grid is its impact on the stability of the grid.

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Renewables being non dispatchable in nature also lacks the inertia inherent in conventional generators. The energy stored in the rotating mass of conventional generators stabilized the sudden mismatch of demand and generation. Incorporating energy storage in the grid can compensate for stability issues arising due to rising renewable integration. Energy storage also helps in minimizing wastage of renewable generation due to mismatch between generation and demand.

Batteries are becoming popular for application for gridscale energy storage systems because of their falling costs, rapid response, flexible installation and modularization. Lithium ion batteries are capable of providing their peak capacity power within milliseconds.

This rapid response time brings flexibility and stability to the grid. Advanced power electronics used in energy storage make it capable of reducing voltage sag and surges and harmonic distortions in the system.

Grid connected solar inverters depend on reference supply from grid for operation and cannot function during grid outage. This causes wastage of solar generation even in presence of demand. Integrating battery energy storage using hybrid inverters solves this issue. The hybrid system can supply solar generation even during grid outages. Energy storage also provides numerous services like peak demand reduction, frequency regulation etc and increases reliability of supply during extreme weather events.

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Renewable generation being distributed in nature while having a low gestation period, making it easy to be installed in rural areas. Also, batteries are modular and are capable of being installed in most of the geographic locations. Lithium ion batteries having high energy density, long life and minimum maintenance are becoming suitable for remote applications. With availability of cheaper battery energy storage, reliability of off-grid and micro grid is being improved. This is driving demand for renewable microgrids in rural areas where grid supply is insufficient and unreliable. The falling cost of energy storage is increasing their demand and has resulted in renewable plus energy storage tenders coming in the market.

Recently 400MW of round the clock renewable energy supply tender was floated by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). It allowed the bidder to select energy storage of their choice like battery energy storage or pumped hydro energy storage. Tenders for renewable generation with certain percent solar are also being floated by state governments. Such initiatives can propel growth of renewable generation in India. The demand for renewable generation with energy storage can be driven further with inclusion of a policy framework.

MR. MANOJ GUPTA VP-Solar and Waste to Energy Business, Fortum India Pvt Ltd.

As part of its goals under the Paris Agreement, India aims to reduce its emissions intensity by 33-35 percent by 2030 from the 2005 levels and increase the share of nonfossil-fuel-based energy to 40 percent of the total generation capacity. In line with this commitment, India has set a target of achieving 175 GW of renewablesbased energy (RE) capacity by 2022, and 450 GW by 2030. A large part of this will be solar power followed, to a lesser extent, by wind power. Over the years, the Government of India has consistently supported schemes for setting up centralized and distributed REsources. These efforts have been successful in creating demand, spurring improvements in technology, and enabling economies of scale. As a result, solar tariffs in India have dropped from about 10 US cents/kWh in FY15 to about 2.70 US cents/kWh in FY20.

The importance of battery storage in India’s energy mix As the country transitions towards an energy mix with an increasingly higher proportion of RE, energy storage – especially battery storage systems – will have an important role to play in ensuring grid stability. In India,

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Most of the regulations and policy framework at present do not lend enough incentives for implementing advanced and cheaper energy storage. Also, where and when energy storage can provide benefits to the grid are not assessed and encouraged effectively. Energy storage faces the obstacle of not being able to monetise all the services it provides. In case of energy storage there could be a wide range of owners ranging from generation, distribution and transmission companies, bulk consumers or other third parties which also needs to be addressed.

Similar to Renewable purchase obligation, Storage purchase obligations should be imposed for improving grid stability while integrating renewable generation. The untapped potential of Behind-the-meter energy storage for grid support services can be maximised by updating rules. There a need of developing inspection protocols and safety codes for behind-the-meter energy storage.

Further, metering techniques could also be improved for leveraging grid interactive application of renewable plus storage. More focus could be given on battery to grid and new technologies to accelerate this transition.

solar power output is typically at its maximum in the period from just before noon till early afternoon. Wind power output, on the other hand, tends to be highest late in the evening and early in the morning. Meanwhile, the country witnesses peak power demand from around 6-9 PM. If we can store the energy generated during the peak RE generation hours both through solar during the day and through wind during the night and feed it into the power grid during the demand hours, such a system can provide round-the-clock clean energy throughout the day. This will also address the issue of costly solar power generated through the storage as otherwise also DISCOM’s are buying costly power through the exchanges at the peak hours.

India is looking to renewable hybrids as a part of its efforts to power the growth in RE. The complementary nature of wind and solar power makes wind-solar hybrid systems well-suited to meet the country’s energy demands. As per my estimate, India’s total wind-solar hybrid capacity will reach around 10 GW by 2025.

However, the uncertainty of solar and wind power makes it essential to have battery storage if we are looking at them to provide round-the-clock power.

Another very interesting application for battery storage is for industrial, commercial and residential rooftop which itself is a very huge market, once there will be a resolution on Net metering concept at each and every state level, we will see a jump in this market for Rooftop

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Solar with battery storage. Residential rooftop markets are yet to be evolved. While independent solar generating costs have already reached their minimum, we are yet to see the battery cost reach to their bottom and the time we see it’s happening, let's say after 2025, we will see another area of business ie residential solar with battery storage. There was a time while we had cable operators providing the cable TV facility at home, we may see the same kind of network coming in the market providing residential solar facility to residents and shops in small cities.

There’s another reason why battery storage is so important. The electricity fed into the grid should be of the same frequency as the electricity consumed. If demand exceeds supply, or vice versa, the frequency at which the grid equilibrium is maintained gets disturbed.

Beyond a point, this imbalance can cause the grid to collapse. The variable nature of solar and wind power output makes it difficult for grid operators to maintain the frequency of a pure RE grid. As the penetration of variable renewable energy sources increases, frequency stability becomes more important too. Battery storage is good for frequency management while synchronizing with the grid. Around 15 minutes of storage is enough for frequency management, while 3-4 hours suffices to address the evening peak.

Moreover, the declining price of batteries around the world makes battery storage one of the most viable solutions for RE storage.

THE WAY FORWARD TO ENCOURAGE BATTERY TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION

prospective investors. Earlier this year, the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) shared its recommendations with the Ministry of Power, which included the suggestion of having a policy framework for energy storage in the Electricity Act. The framework, when it is established, should incentivize the ownership of energy storage systems appropriately for some or all of the stakeholders in the ecosystem, but most importantly for power generators and DISCOMs. Li-ion batteries are used around the world to store energy for EVs and RE systems. Their disposal, however, isn’t easy, as they are classified as hazardous waste. In an ideal scenario, the batteries should be “renewable” or recyclable too. India should invest in research and development and find ways to address these challenges while, at the same time, making energy storage technologies more cost competitive. Over time, standardization of technology and value-chain management will help in minimizing the environmental and safety risks associated with the use and recycling of batteries.

India has made an impressive start in its journey towards its RE goals. Addressing the challenges ahead will call for even more concerted efforts guided by a clear policy and regulatory framework, and incentives for investment, and powered by innovation and improvements in energy storage solutions.

BATTERY STORAGE HAS GOT THE SPECIFIC FEATURE OF QUICK RESPONSE IN TERMS OF MILLISECONDS, WHICH PERHAPS

The adoption of energy storage in the past, however, has raised concerns over the financial viability of DISCOMs. Although India has developed battery storage facilities, we need a robust framework to regulate the use of storage systems, and guidelines for attracting

KESHAV PRASAD Chief Executive Officer, Saurya urja Company of Rajasthan

Aiming to implement 100 Gw by 2022 and with 35 Gw solar capacity operating as on end 20 , India’s solar policy is at a crucial stage, seeking review by policy makers . Our current Solar policy focuses on adding capacity to central and state grids through reverse auctions( by SECI) and encouraging residential Rooftop solar through financial assistance. We have seen limited Policy support and implementation in emerging technologies , applications and R & D efforts limiting our ability to embrace “atma nirbhar” to its true spirit . This is evident from limited Technology demonstration projects which we can see in India, over dependence on imports and also lack of neutral agency which captures, analyses and publishes their performance . | DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

ONLY DEMAND RESPONSE HAS. BATTERY, THEREFORE, HAS A SPECIFIC PLACE FOR QUICK RESPONSE ANCILLARY SERVICES"

Nevertheless, solar power procurement policy implementation is a great success and solar energy prices have fallen to a historic low. Production linked incentive schemes for Storage and PV manufacturing are expected to drive local manufacturing and jobs.

Continuation of the solar power procurement policy in its present form could pose significant challenges like (a) inability to dispatch solar power on demand (b) inability of solar projects to deliver greater compliance to scheduling and forecasting protocols (c) impact of higher RE penetration (no growth in thermal capacities) on grid quality . With storage battery costs likely to hit sub $100 per kwh in next 2 years ( driven by higher volumes of electric vehicles and more & more demo projects in PV+ storage) and other promising technologies in hydrogen , CSP+ storage , it is imperative to review and reorient the Solar policy framework urgently.

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Following are few ideas for consideration: 1. Instead of seeking bids for “pure vanilla” Solar projects, policy to encourage bidding on “ Dispatchable solar Base load” -which incorporates part of total capacity as energy storage ..Storing about a third to a quarter of all kilowatt-hours produced by a given PV power plant will suffice to smooth intermittent generation so as to provide predictable, and thus tradable, energy blocks during the day – as well as at night. Differential tariff for night time dispatch may be supported by seci/ MNRE to accommodate increase in capex cost due to energy storage 2. Policy must specify the duration of storage and be neutral to multiple emerging and reliable technology options including PV+electro chemical and CSP+thermo chemical to the choice of bidders.

3. Policy to make a budget provision for implementation of Fast track demonstration projects on an exclusive basis...This could be done @ any existing solar parks in operation and should cover power projects of 5-10 Mw size with wide range of technology options in Solar PV, CSP with storage, Battery storage , Hydrogen with solar etc ....Performance outcome of such a time bound and well managed policy driven program would be of immense value to the country in developing future Investments in Technology, manufacturing and project.

4. Many of the recent solar projects adopt AC:dc ratio of 1:1.5 which during peak generation period would lead to clipping losses... SECI may allow solar parks to incorporate a suitable battery bank at their evacuation point and store the energy generated ( otherwise a clipping loss) for sale during non solar hours . This would act as demo storage projects at existing solar parks and also help the SPDs to recover revenue loss due to clipping and may encourage them to go for higher ratios in future to optimise LCOE. 5. Considering the rich potential of direct solar irradiance in states like Rajasthan, Gujarat and Leh Ladakh, technology demonstration projects based on hybrid PV with battery storage and CSP with thermal storage systems may be implemented. Such hybrid projects would be ideal for delivering 24*7 firm power based on renewables at competitive tariff. bids for such systems in the Middle East and Spain have discovered tariffs of around Rs 3 per unit. The configuration of such hybrid systems would be PV with minimum storage which will supply firm power during daytime and CSP with 8-10 hours thermal storage would supply power during night time.

6. Solar rooftop policy to include energy storage batteries and cfa may be suitably revised to accommodate to cover part of additional battery cost Solar rooftop with storage is very popular in us and Europe While India's solar journey till date is ably supported by government’s Policy , recalibrating its policy now is critical for India to lead this disruptive Technology space. | DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

ANUJA TIWARI

AMOOLYA KHURANA

Partner, DSK Legal

Senior Associate, DSK Legal

With an installed capacity of approximately 85 GW of solar and wind capacity, India ranks fourth in the world in terms of installed capacity. However, a review of the actual consumption of renewable energy in the energy mix shows that the percentage generally varies between 6-10%, clearly evidencing under-utilization of the installed capacity. The major cause for such underutilization is that solar and wind energy are intermittent energy sources and cannot be modified to mimic the energy demand and hence, generation patterns and demand/consumption patterns may not always be in sync. Currently, the gap in generation and demand/consumption is being covered through the use of energy from coal based thermal generation plants.

However, given India's ambitious target to reach 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 and the objective of reducing dependence on thermal power generation, it is imperative to introduce large-scale battery storage to ensure proper utilization of generated energy and also to ensure grid stability.

Large scale implementation of battery storage will result in many good things for India. It will introduce flexibility in electricity systems so that they are able to effectively respond to changes in supply and demand, increase the value of solar and wind energy, bring about grid stability and efficiency and it is also the most cost-effective way to ensure deeper penetration of renewable energy in isolated areas and communities. Unfortunately, various drawbacks impede the development of the energy storage sector in India, the primary being the lack of any central regulation, rule or framework to govern the sector. Thus, the first step to jumpstart the sector seems to be the introduction of, at the very least, a policy framework to set out objectives, short term and long term goals and a basic framework for the development of energy storage systems in India. In the past, policies, guidelines and acts have worked as stepping stones for nascent sectors and technologies including the renewable energy sector and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in India and the battery storage sector in the United Kingdom and the United States. Once the initial setup is set out in the policy document or guideline, the sector usually undergoes organic growth and is able to sustain itself purely through market driven forces and course correction, if required, though government agencies.

Since energy storage systems have a wide range of applications for almost every stakeholder in the renewable energy value chain, the policy framework will have to either be comprehensive, such that it addresses each stakeholder separately or flexible, such that the same approach is applicable to all stakeholders.

Accordingly, the government can either look to introduce a central policy for the sector and allow states to issue their own guidelines (in conjunction with the views of the electricity regulatory commission) or can PG 37

take complete control over the sector in the initial phase until it stabilizes. In addition, the policy framework will have to account for sharing of costs between the owner of the system and the users, which consideration will have to be tailored for each stakeholder. For example, for independent power producers, any costs will have to take into account a profit margin, which may not be the case for distribution and transmission licensees. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in its staff paper on ‘Introduction of Electricity Storage System in India’ has addressed sharing of costs between users quite comprehensively and may be used as a reference.

Further, the policy framework should provide for drafting and issuance of tariff formulation guidelines through the identification of the appropriate commission along with recognition for the initial development models, both CapEx and OpEx, for energy storage systems.

ALOK KUMAR Country Manager India, DNV GL – Energy

India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. One of India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under this agreement is to have 40% of non-fossil fuel installed electric power capacity by 2030. As of 31 December 2020, India has an installed electric capacity of 374.2 GW, of which renewable power, including hydropower, constitutes around 36% of total installed capacity.

The above is all subject to development of multiple costcompetitive energy storage technologies in India through extensive engineering, research and development for new storage concepts and materials, which will require making India an attractive location to develop battery storage systems through incentives and subsidies.

Once a policy framework is developed, bids for development of energy storage systems either on a standalone basis or bundled with a generation system may be invited. Thereafter, the sector should be able to grow organically with minimal intervention from the government similar to the renewable energy sector in India, which became a fairly regulated market driven sector in less than a decade.

services, energy management and microgrid services and renewable integration. Amongst current and upcoming battery storage technologies, Li-ion batteries have the highest level of energy density, long cycle numbers, low discharge rate as well as no-memory effect. Its other major applications are in electric vehicles (EVs) where selection criteria are stringently for the highest energy density.

Li-ion batteries are currently expensive and not commercially viable in most application scenarios.

However, its prices have dropped more than 80% between 2010-2018 and it is expected that it will further drop to less than 100 USD per unit by 2023 where it would become commercially viable.

India has a target to install 175 GW of renewable energy sources (RES) by 2022 and increase it to 450GW by 2030. With this addition, it is expected that the installed capacity of RES including hydropower would be more than 60% of total installed capacity, and 40% in terms of total gross generation. However, RES, especially wind and solar pose major problems for balancing supply and demand on different spatial and time scales due to their variable natures. The distributed nature of RES also adds complexity in terms of connecting them to existing grid infrastructure. This is where energy storage has an important role to play in facilitating the large integration of RES.

India has the ambition of not only using the Li-ion batteries for its energy transition, but also developing a manufacturing hub to cater to all local demands, as well as partially catering to international needs. Towards this end, the Indian Government has taken a number of policy measures. It approved the National Mission on Electric Mobility in 2011 and launched National Electricity Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) in 2013 which promotes the uptake of electric and hybrid vehicles in the country with the aim to achieve national fuel security. As part of the NEMMP 2020, the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) EVs in India (FAME India) Scheme was launched in the year 2015 to promote the manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technologies.

India would require all types of energy storage technologies given the huge requirement of RES anticipated in its generation mix. Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries in particular will have a significant role given that it is suitable for all applications of bulk energy services, ancillary services, transmission & infrastructure

The Indian Government has recently taken a number of measures under the Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP) and FAME to promote local manufacturing through creating local demand and supply. It has provided incentives of 10,000 crores for sale of EVs with 6.8GWh of total batteries, viability gap funding under

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various scheme for grid connected Li-ion batteries colocated with renewable sources and tenders for Round The Clock (RTC) and peak-power supply are being floated to promote energy storage. On the supply side, it has announced production-based incentives to set up 310 giga-factories totalling 50GWh by 2022, graded basic custom duties for Li-ion batteries and other manufacturing and export related incentives.

One of the key challenges, however, in the manufacturing of Li-ion batteries is securing the longterm supply of its major raw materials such as cobalt, nickel and lithium. More than 50% of the world’s cobalt reserves is in Congo and the volatile political situation there presents a risk. Indonesia, Australia and Brazil hold the world’s major reserves of Nickel. Li-ion batteries require a very high purity and hence only 46% of world’s nickel production can be used for batteries. More than 50% of the world’s lithium reserve is in the Lithium Triangle, which is a region of the Andes around the borders of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. Since 2019, India has been making efforts to have joint ventures, acquisitions, as well as exploration rights in the lithium mines and access to cobalt within the Lithium Triangle.

Unfortunately, the long-term sourcing of these materials would continue to pose a challenge for end-to-end manufacturing of Li-ion batteries in India.

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As mentioned above, India has taken policy intervention to accelerate its energy transition, in particular through the local production of Li-ion batteries. However, the current focus majorly around the uptake of EVs is not enough. There needs to be a shift of focus and attention to the grid infrastructure where EVs would draw power from. Grid operators need to modernize their infrastructure to cater for non-traditional energy sources in order to achieve a carbon neutral energy value chain.

The use of battery storage needs to be looked at holistically from the grid integration perspective to allow for maximum value-stacking, rather than continuing with the sporadic integration with RES projects we are seeing now. With the current scenario, even if India achieves its target of 30% of electrification of vehicles by 2030, these EVs would be still running on 60% of fossil fuel sources – thereby defeating the intended purpose.

With a population of 1.3 bn people and less than half of world’s average per capita electricity consumption, India requires a massive increase in electricity production to support its economic and population growth. A holistic, long-term policy framework, considering various energy storage technologies and how they fit into the energy value chain, is essential for a complete energy transition.

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VIKAS SUHAG Clean and Green Energy Professional (Renewables), ICF

Power system operators maintain grid frequency by balancing power demand and generation from power plants. Increasing solar and wind capacities with variable generation coupled with increasing numbers of prosumers have added to the complexities of this process.

Battery storage is one of the solutions for maintaining a balanced grid in increasing variable renewable (VRE) scenarios. When power generation is more than demand, it can be stored in the batteries and used when generation comes down and/or demand increases.

Grid-scale battery storage deployment would enable large-scale VRE grid integration thus reducing emissions. A supporting policy framework is needed to support battery storage deployment and create an enabling market.

Supporting policy framework should focus on stimulating innovation, recognizing financial value of storage, prioritizing applications, creating opportunities through regulations, and developing framework for operations, ownership and sharing benefits Against the backdrop of climate change, the global power sector is witnessing a surge in renewable energy.

India too is committed to reducing its burgeoning carbon footprint and as part of its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) and aims to base 40% of the total installed power capacity on non-fossil fuel resources by 2030. (https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/175-GWRenewable-Energy.pdf) India announced its ambitions of 450 GW renewables capacity by 2030 during the United Nations Climate Action Summit in 2019. As we transition towards this greener future, it is becoming imperative to ensure grid stability in the wake of the ever-increasing gridintegration of VRE. The current strategy of providing firm power through a mixture of VRE, thermal, and hydropower for maintaining the demand-supply balance will no longer be feasible in the future, and grid-scale battery energy storage will be needed. When power generation is more than demand, excess electricity can be stored in the batteries, and it can be used when generation comes down and/or demand increases.

Grid-scale energy storage installations in India are mostly pumped hydro storage plants, and deployment of grid-scale battery energy storage projects started in 2017 with Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) installing its first pilot project in Pondicherry. This was followed by tenders for Andaman and Nicobar Islands to reduce dependence on diesel use, and then for solar and hybrid plants with storage. A general trend is seen to couple battery storage at generator end and its | DEC -- JAN ISSUE 2020

placement in the transmission and distributions networks is still being assessed. The growth of grid-scale energy storage in India has been constrained by several factors, including: Lack of suitable policies and regulations as India does not have an ancillary services market, smaller resolution trading windows (5 minutes) or policies that support battery storage as alternative to grid upgradation/ expansion.

Absence of defined ownership structures as battery storage assets can be owned by a wide range of owners like gencos, transcos, discoms or independent operators/service providers. Possibility of using e-vehicles as battery storage is also not ruled out. This would necessitate development of regulatory framework based on ownership structures for areas like utilization signals, revenue sharing, cost recovery mechanism, etc.

Inadequate revenue generation/ cost recovery mechanisms: Battery storage generates revenue by providing fast response ‘power services’ like frequency and voltage support, ‘energy services like peak shaving and energy arbitrage, and ‘investment deferral services’ in capacity and grid network. At present, the power services are not remunerative in India and providing energy services is not economically feasible. Investment deferral is a viable service, but its technical and commercial feasibility is yet to be established in the Indian context.

Low cost-competitiveness as Grid-scale energy storage has very high upfront costs and the monetary quantification of benefits offered by battery storage is yet to be determined.

Lack of fiscal incentives like tax breaks, subsidies, preferential rates, etc.

Gap in workforce and skills: Energy storage is in a nascent stage in India, due to which skilled and experienced personnel are not easily available.

These roadblocks are further compounded by the limited number of players that are operating in the grid-scale battery energy storage space.

The idea of commercially viable grid-scale battery energy storage has long been a goal of the Indian power sector stakeholders. Focusing efforts in the following areas can help India leapfrog the development phase for battery energy storage and go straight to the deployment phase.

Stimulating innovation: Stimulating innovation by incentivizing research and development has paid dividends in many countries. In one of the earliest, precedent-setting moves, the U.S. FERC gave a boost to newer storage solutions by increasing the pay for fast responding sources bidding into frequency regulation service markets. This gave batteries and flywheels a clear advantage over coal and gas plants, which have slower ramp-up rates.

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Recognizing financial value of storage: The environmental and societal value of energy storage - whose function is to increase reliance on renewables is clear. So, too are the benefits storage brings to the grid in the form of increased efficiency and flexibility. For potential investors, the focus needs to be on whether these benefits can be monetized to justify investment. There are a growing number of ways energy storage assets can create new revenue streams as the market matures and new services are developed. There are also costs related to the energy transition that can be avoided using storage. Meeting increasing demand by adding more capacity for generation, transmission, and distribution on the grid will demand investment across the value chain. This investment can be postponed by using energy storage, which provides investors valuable choices about what to do with their funds in the meantime. As forecasting for renewables can never be 100% accurate, the use of storage to compensate for shortfalls or oversupply adds significant value. Quality of power generation also has a value in the energy market. In the past, coal and gas would always win out over unreliable renewables with their stable supply. Storage removes this difference from the equation.

Prioritizing applications and location: The choice of a storage technology fundamentally depends on its purpose - the specific role it has to fulfill in the energy system. Is the primary aim peak load management or frequency regulation? Or is network reliability the number one objective? By prioritizing the requirements of storage applications at gridscale, small-scale and off-grid, suitable technologies can then be identified and compared. The applications in-turn depend on the location of battery energy storage along the grid network. At present, India is focusing on energy storage at the generator end, but it needs to explore transmission and distribution networks as well.

Creating opportunities through regulations: Governments around the world are showing how regulation and legislation can be used to create opportunities for storage aligned to their nation’s energy needs. In the early market development phase, funding is the primary focus of new measures. In the deployment phase, direct support for storage is being given in the form of targets, tax benefits, preferential rates, and subsidies.

Figure-1: Key global policies and regulations supporting energy storage

Developing framework for operations, ownership and sharing benefits: Battery storage facilities can be owned by a wide range of owners like gencos, transco, discoms or independent operators and they all can draw multiple benefits from it. Thus, more focus is needed for ‘stacking’ of applications, prioritization of stacked applications, cost recovery mechanisms and associated revenue streams for different business models based on ownership.

The future of grid-scale battery energy storage in India is not straightforward as its growth will depend on several factors including technological developments, commercial feasibility, how utilities integrate storage in their value-chain, how investors and lenders evaluate opportunities. It is prudent to build a policy framework that builds on synergies between VRE and battery storage deployment.

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PANKAJ BATRA Project Director, SARI/EI/IRADe

The Energy Transition in India has already started, towards an increasing target of renewable energy sources, mainly wind and solar power. The targets were increased from 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022, as per the Central Government’s National Solar Mission of 2010, to 5 times that target, i.e. 1,00,000 MW by 2022 by the Government of India. In addition, along with the wind energy target of 60,000 MW, biomass target of 10,000 MW and Small Hydro plant target of 5,000 MW, the total renewable energy target has been set at 1,75,000 MW for the country by 2022. But how does the Government ensure that this would happen. This is by taking action at the ground level through yearly targets by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Government of India undertaking. This was started initially by giving a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) in the capital cost, in crore Rs./MW, which kept reducing over the years, till bids were called without any VGF. The VGF continued only for projects set up by Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSU) for selfuse or use by government agencies, and using domestic solar cells.

As this renewable energy target started materializing, problems of effects of the intermittency of variable renewable energy sources on the grid, and consequently on the finances of the State Distribution Utilities, started surfacing. Controllable generation started getting slowly replaced by uncontrollable generation. Because of the intermittency of these renewables, the unscheduled interchanges started increasing, and so also the penalties for violating the schedules through the Unscheduled Interchange charges (now called deviation settlement charges). Besides, the sudden ramping up and down of controllable generation, mainly coal based power plants to compensate the fluctuations of generation of wind and solar power, started taking a toll on these plants, in terms of reduced efficiencies, increased wear and tear of plant, and in one case, damage of the turbine blades in Gujarat.

The same phenomenon of tackling intermittency was being experienced around the world and solutions being thought of. Energy storage was thought of as the need of the hour. Pumped storage hydro power plants existed already, but not in sufficient quantities. Therefore, other means of storage were being explored. In this connection, batteries started getting looked at. The most feasible solution that came out were the lithium ion batteries, but these were initially expensive. Due to continuous improvement in battery technology, and increase of volumes, prices of lithium ion batteries dropped 70% between 2010 and 2017, and further by 20% since then. These have started becoming closer to being affordable.

There is still massive research going on all over the world, and hopefully these would become even more efficient, affordable and safe. They have still not come in a big way and are more in the shape of pilots in most countries except perhaps, UK and Australia, due to their

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specific needs or targets. In India, there are very few pilots, mostly for testing the efficacy of the batteries of different technologies by POWERGRID at Puducherry, and in a couple of Distribution companies in Delhi for putting off the augmentation of the distribution system. Studies are being done in Gujarat about the optimal sizing and location of the battery.

How do we kick start the deployment of grid scale batteries in India? There are also thoughts whether India should be dependent on imports for these batteries, or manufacture these indigenously and in fact, at a later stage, become a manufacturing hub for export. Just like for renewables, in any country, it should start with enunciating a policy. This should be followed by Regulations and finally transit to competition. The National Electricity Policy of the Government should reflect this.

The earlier National Electricity Policy was published in 2005 and did not talk about energy storage, as renewables was only a niche part of the generation. How do we kick start the deployment of grid scale batteries in India? There are also thoughts whether India should be dependent on imports for these batteries, or manufacture these indigenously Many things have changed since then.

Concern about the environment has changed the priorities. Renewables coupled with energy storage has become a priority. The National Electricity Policy should reflect that. Various studies have already been done by Central Electricity Authority, for seeing the economic value of storage, which shows that storage has become viable. This should act as a support for incorporating energy storage in the policy. This should simultaneously be accompanied by a Vision and Mission on energy storage, and a target, which could be technology agnostic. Once all stakeholders get that message, things are bound to take off.

Just like in the case of renewable energy, this could be supported by the Government of India through VGF or capital subsidy for proliferating energy storage. The Union Cabinet recently approved Rs 18,000 crore productionlinked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery manufacturing in India. The capital subsidy should be seen holistically, in terms of reduction of other costs, for example, in the import bill of petroleum products, if battery electric vehicles replace fossil fuel based vehicles. Also, grid connected energy storage reduces many other costs, like inefficient operation of coal based power plants, resulting in higher cost of operation and higher emissions per unit of electricity, under-utilization of coal based power plants, effectively resulting in a higher tariff per unit of electricity produced, etc. Battery storage can also postpone or put off the need for augmentation of the transmission and distribution system.

Policy should be followed by Regulations, about how storage services are to be priced, how the costs are to be shared, whether competition needs to be brought about in energy storage, in terms of competitively bid ancillary services. Battery storage has got the specific feature of quick response in terms of milliseconds, which perhaps only demand response has. Battery, therefore, has a specific place for quick response ancillary services. With this, I am confident that battery storage can further propel energy transition in India.

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