India is Rapidly Scaling up Renewable Energy but Now it Needs to Store it

Syllabus: GS3/Renewable Energy

Context

• As India rapidly scales up its renewable energy capacity to meet its climate goals, a key challenge is emerging for its power system i.e. energy Storage.

About

• Renewable power generation sources come with a fundamental limitation of being intermittent. 
  • Solar power generation drops to zero after sunset and wind output fluctuates with changing weather.
  • This creates a growing mismatch between when electricity is generated and when it is needed. 
  • This mismatch can stretch the grid and even threaten its stability if not managed properly.

Renewable Energy in India

• Renewable sources account for 53% (283 gigawatts) of the total installed power generation capacity of 532 GW. 
• Solar power alone contributes over 150 GW, making it the largest source in the renewable energy mix.
• This is where deploying systems that “store” energy becomes critical and where India has fallen short so far.

Energy Storage

• Energy storage refers to systems that can store excess renewable electricity during periods of high generation and discharge it when demand rises but power generation remains low.
• Energy storage systems convert electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind, when it is available, into forms that can be stored. 
• Later, it converts these back into electricity when need arises.

Types of Energy Storage

• Pumped hydro storage (PHS) uses surplus electricity to pump water from a lower reservoir to a higher one. When electricity demand peaks, it releases the stored water downhill through turbines to generate power.
• Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) technology stores electricity chemically and discharges it when needed.
  • Lithium-ion batteries, particularly lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, are currently the dominant technology for grid-scale storage because of their falling costs, high efficiency and long operational life. 
• Concentrating solar-thermal storage systems: This technology uses mirrors that capture and focus sunlight onto a receiver.
  • As the receiver gets heated, materials such as molten salt are circulated inside the receiver to store the heat. 
• Compressed-air energy storage systems use excess electricity to compress air and store it in underground caverns or tanks.
• Flywheel energy storage systems store electricity as rotational energy by spinning a rotor at extremely high speeds. 
• Gravity energy storage systems use electricity to lift heavy weights to higher elevations. When electricity is needed, the weights are lowered, converting gravitational energy back into electricity through generators.

India’s Energy Storage Capacity

• The government is primarily focusing on the two major systems above: PHS and BESS.

• At present, India has an installed BESS capacity of around 0.27 GW. 
• PHS capacity stands at about 7.2 GW. There are plans, however, for a massive scale-up over the next decade.
• A Central Electricity Authority (CEA) plan projects the country’s total energy storage capacity to reach 174 GW/888 gigawatt hours by 2035-36. 
  • This includes 80 GW/321 GWh of BESS and 94 GW/567 GWh of PHS.

Global Scenario

• China leads with nearly 66 GW of installed capacity, followed by Japan at 21.8 GW and the US at 18.9 GW. Europe collectively accounts for around 28 GW of pumped hydro capacity.
• According to the International Energy Agency, 108 GW of new battery storage capacity was added globally in 2025 alone, a 40% increase over 2024.

Conclusion

• India’s transition to renewable energy will depend not only on expanding solar and wind capacity, but also on building robust energy storage infrastructure. 
• With ambitious plans for scaling up PHS and BESS, India is positioning itself to meet its climate commitments and strengthen energy security. 
• However, achieving these targets will require sustained policy support, technological innovation, domestic manufacturing capacity and large-scale investments in the coming decade.

Source: IE