A study from Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PM-EAC) flags a big problem in India’s solar power scene. As solar meets more midday demand, traditional plants,especially thermal, scramble to adjust output. Blame slow battery storage adoption. The study calls batteries crucial for grid stability.
Authored by Sanjeev Sanyal and Satvik Deb, the paper stresses urgent battery deployment. Pumped hydro storage is near capacity,but battery storage lags behind targets. Authors say India's storage shortfall stems from lack of batteries.
Back in May, electricity prices showed system stress. Midday rates dropped to ₹1.11 per kilowatt-hour; nighttime soared to ₹9.71. This price gap highlights shifting power dynamics. The study claims solar growth shifts challenges from capacity to grid flexibility. "The binding constraint has shifted from capacity to flexibility," they note.
Three indicators are flagged: widening price gaps between solar and non-solar hours, unmet demand post-sunset, and increased solar generation curtailment due to grid limits. In May,curtailed solar could’ve powered over a quarter of Delhi for a day.
Authors estimate cutting evening demand ramp-up by half needs about 130 GWh of storage discharge over seven hours. Current pumped-storage and battery systems can only manage roughly 24 GWh daily. Clearly, storage solutions fall short.
Comparisons drawn to California,where batteries tackle similar issues. There,batteries store excess solar energy by day, release it at night,cutting evening net-load swing from nearly 28 GW to about 10 GW. Authors say India needs this as solar capacity grows .
Given these insights,authors back recent policies to boost sector. Proposed electricity law changes supporting demand response,time-of-day tariffs, and stronger renewable obligations are seen as positive. Combined with faster battery deployment, these could help India's clean energy goals.
The study’s a wake-up call for policymakers,industry. Immediate action needed to tackle solar integration challenges. Without boosting battery storage and grid flexibility,India’s renewable targets might slip away...
