India, Aug. 12 -- On paper, India does not have a battery storage shortage. It has an execution challenge. Every summer, our country is presented with a paradox. Demand for power rises, but so does generation from solar farms during the day. Yet, India continues to face challenges in providing round-the-clock power due to inadequate energy storage, as much of the solar energy generated during the day cannot be shifted to evening and night-time peak demand periods. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are meant to solve exactly this problem, but that will happen only if projects are commissioned on time and perform reliably for several years. Also Read - Exports up about 15 pc in Apr-Jul despite global uncertainties: Goyal The Government has outlined a clear roadmap and signalled a strong commitment to scaling up the country's energy storage capacity. According to the Central Electricity Authority, India will need 60.63 GW of energy storage by 2029-30, including 18.98 GW of pumped storage projects (PSP) and 41.65 GW of BESS. To support this build-out, India has rolled out two viability gap funding (VGF) schemes to augment over 43 GW of large-scale BESS in the coming years. The scale of India's BESS ambitions highlights the critical role of energy storage in enabling a clean transition and managing peak-hour energy demand. Also Read - Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran resigns over board logjam on re-appointment Ambitious targets look impressive on paper, but their success ultimately hinges on execution. What it takes As India accelerates multi-gigawatt-hour BESS deployment, timely project execution becomes as important as the project award itself. Delays in engineering, procurement, commissioning or commercial operation could result in continued renewable energy curtailment, under-utilisation of valuable generation and transmission infrastructure, and avoidable loss of energy that could otherwise have been stored and delivered during periods of peak demand. The first priority, therefore, is execution discipline. State utilities, transmission companies and project developers need faster land approvals, grid connectivity, testing and commissioning processes. Storage projects should be monitored with the same urgency as transmission lines and power plants. Also Read - RBI Guv asks banks to ensure human oversight of AI Second, India must change how it selects its BESS manufacturers and contractors. The increasing maturity of our BESS sector is reflected in the evolution of tender specifications, where the emphasis has shifted from asset delivery to long-term asset performance, especially as BESS plants are expected to have a life cycle of around 15 years. Current tenders increasingly demand 98% annual availability, guaranteed round-trip efficiency and long-term capacity retention through the BESS life cycle. Yet qualification often remains a mere paperwork exercise. Such stringent quality-focused tenders must only be awarded to BESS providers who are qualified to execute sophisticated electrochemical infrastructure projects. Also Read - As many as 95 special eco zones are non-operational as on July 31: Govt While technical capabilities are essential, a BESS project bidder's financial resilience is equally important. EPC contractors are now required to provide long-term performance guarantees and absorb substantial contractual liabilities. If a contractor lacks the balance sheet to honour those commitments, the project owner may be left with an underperforming asset and years of litigation. Storage infrastructure is too strategic for such outcomes. For better outcomes Strengthening engineering-based technical evaluation by mandating a Direct Long-term Service Agreement for the entire design life between a qualified and bankable BESS OEM and the developer, ensuring long-term technology, performance and lifecycle risk coverage, enhancing the assessment of long-term financial resilience, and limiting commercial competition to technically proven bidders, will significantly improve execution certainty, reduce lifecycle risk, strengthen project bankability, safeguard public investment, and promote the sustainable growth of India's BESS industry. With multi-gigawatt-hour BESS deployments on the horizon, India must streamline its procurement strategies to progressively evolve from selecting the lowest evaluated bidder towards selecting the lowest evaluated technically qualified and financially resilient bidder. Ultimately, the success of India's BESS programme should not be measured solely by the number of projects awarded, but by the number of projects that continue to reliably deliver their guaranteed performance, operational availability, and intended grid benefits throughout their 12-15-year design life. India's clean energy transition will increasingly be judged not by how much solar or wind capacity it installs, but by how effectively it can store and use that energy when consumers need it most. The logical next step for India's BESS sector must not be just expanding capacities but ensuring that every commissioned battery system becomes a dependable grid asset for very many years.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.