Energy storage in India: applications in the renewable energy segment
Electricity generated from any source, whether traditional or renewable, needs to be consumed instantly. This limitation of electricity has led to the development of energy storage technologies. Energy storage has been part of the electric system for decades. Energy storage technologies provide flexibility in the use of electricity, for both centralised and decentralised supply provisions. Conventional use of storage systems by way of batteries (in electronic goods, vehicles) and accumulators (inverters and UPS as electricity backup solutions) have been driven by commercial and technology considerations (and requirements), with little policy directive to incentivise the use of these novel solutions. In India, lead-acid batteries have been the primary storage solution for a range of stationary and portable applications. Increasingly, with the potential application of energy storage in hitherto unexplored areas such as large grid-connected systems for applications including peak shaving, ancillary services, grid stability etc. and novel applications in electrical vehicles, a lot of the research and development (and the resulting products) will find use in replacing conventional technologies in other existing applications.