INDIA, Nov. 9 -- On 4 November, the Union Cabinet approved Rs.14,500 crore in viability gap funding to support 92 GWh of new grid-scale storage: 60 GWh of pumped hydro, 30 GWh of batteries and 2 GWh of emerging technologies. The official announcement specifies competitive bidding and a 40% minimum domestic content requirement for battery projects. Separately, the power secretary signalled on 5 November that state utilities would be required to add storage. The announcement gave no specific obligation or timetable for those utilities.
The Power Times asks: Who will pay to charge the storage, who will decide when it discharges, and how will customers know whether it reduced evening shortages? A project can meet its contractual capacity on pa...