India Should Evaluate BESS as a Viable Storage Tech

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) has said that grid-connected battery-based energy storage system (BESS) should be evaluated more actively as a commercial storage technology for grid services, as it offers superior performance and a declining price trend in the future. 

“In the 21st century, India’s symbol of national pride should be its grid that integrates clean renewable capacity, enables the EV roadmap and reduces consumption of fossil fuels in a cost-effective, safe, and reliable manner. All of this can be accomplished most efficiently with grid-connected BESS,” it said in a statement. 

The forum quoted BNEF estimates that non-residential BESS market installations would grow from 6 GW currently to 15 GW by 2023 with Lithium-ion – the primary battery technology platform for grid-scale applications. 

This project has been completed at a time when Indian policymakers are deciding on the most appropriate grid-scale energy storage technology to integrate 160 gigawatts (GW) of intermittent solar and wind power by 2022. In conjunction with this, India is also planning to potentially connect millions of electric vehicles to the grid by 2030 and bring more discipline to grid operations. 

“There has been limited recognition in policy or planning of the massive growth of longer duration, higher capacity BESS projects worldwide, driven primarily by the 70 per cent decline in lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery prices over the last six years,” the statement added.

According to USISPF, the round-trip efficiency of BESS, a measure of energy consumed to energy discharged, is in the 90 percent range and a system is available for use approximately 98 per cent of the time. 

“There is a perception in policy circles that BESS is an experimental technology not ready for commercial use, that it cannot be built for large capacity and is expensive for India. However, recent trends in the industry tell a different story. Vistra Energy in the US is developing a 300 MW/1,200 MWH BESS, the biggest in the world, at least until a bigger one is built,” USISPF said.

Based on the BESS price curve forecast, the price of a four-hour BESS based on Li-ion commissioned in 2027 is Rs 40,000 – Rs 50,000 per kilowatt (KW). The same system commissioned in 2023 will price at Rs 55,000 – Rs 65,000 per KW, the strategic forum noted. 

BESS is a 10 MW/10MWH capacity project serving customers of Tata Power-DDL, the power distribution company in northern Delhi.