US-backed study to investigate energy storage and renewables integration in India

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

Energy storage is a key solution to India’s huge target of 175GW of renewables by 2022. Flickr: SAnyam Bagha
The potential for integrating energy storage, wind and solar energy in India is to be investigated under a new US-backed study, which will help India design its future grid.

India-based wind energy firm IL&FS Energy, a subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services, has chosen GE Energy Consulting, an arm of digital industrial company General Electric, to carry out the study, with funding coming from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

GE will examine the feasibility of integrated wind, solar and energy storage projects at IL&FS sites at Ramagiri in the state of Andhra Pradesh, and at Nana Layja in Gujarat. The firm will design a plant that integrates all three energy technologies. It will then estimate the costs of the project, while taking into account the viability gap funding (VGF) mechanism, which is a funding scheme from India’s Central government for renewable energy projects. The project is expected to be complete this summer.

Industry commentators have cited energy storage as a key solution to India’s huge target of 175GW of renewables by 2022, because the country is likely to face grid stability issues once a significant amount of renewable energy has come online.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

For example, Sundar Venkataraman, technical director, GE’s Energy Consulting, said: “Energy storage can be particularly helpful for integrating variable renewable generation in India since the technical infrastructure and market mechanisms available at the disposal of many other power grids are not yet available in the country. As the costs start to come down, energy storage will become an integral part of India’s grid.”

The study initiative comes in the wake of last year’s US-India Business Council, during which the USTDA and President Barack Obama announced plans to invest nearly US$2 billion for priority renewable energy projects in India.

IL&FS Energy signed a grant agreement with the USTDA to undertake a techno-economic feasibility study of renewables and energy storage at utility-scale in India.

Today’s news also comes shortly after the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) invited expressions of interest for what may be India’s first utility-scale energy storage project to be combined with a solar and wind hybrid project at Rangreek, in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

In January, Indian newspaper Economic Times also reported that IL&FS would be developing 5GW solar park in Rajasthan, which would include some form of energy storage technology. Energy Storage News has repeatedly contacted IL&FS on this project, but received no response.

Referring to energy storage in India as a whole, Sunil Wadhwa, managing director, IL&FS Energy, said: “For commercial deployment of these technologies, a robust regulatory framework needs to be in place. The flexibility and cost reductions that energy storage technologies provide to grid infrastructure would allow India to achieve an efficient, low-carbon intensity trajectory. The current challenge, however, is to address the initial high cost through a regulatory framework.”

Yesterday, Isabella Ni, seniour solar analyst at IHS, also cited a lack of regulation and incentives in India for energy storage.

31 October 2025
Greater Noida, India

Read Next

August 27, 2025
Three companies, Pacifico Energy, Zenith Volts, and Fermi America have begun expanding power generation and energy storage capabilities for US data centre development.
August 26, 2025
Governor of New Jersey, US, Phil Murphy, signed legislation into law to reach 2,000MW of energy storage capacity by 2030, and nearly doubling the state’s clean energy capacity.
Premium
August 21, 2025
What does Trump’s tax reconciliation bill mean for US solar and BESS project development and construction right now? We hear from developer-operator Agilitas Energy CEO Barrett Bilotta.
August 20, 2025
Now is the moment for long-duration energy storage to become a key pillar of the energy transition, writes LDES Council CEO Julia Souder.
August 19, 2025
AGL Energy has deployed approximately AU$900 million toward BESS and renewables in Australia during the fiscal year ending June 2025.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter