NEW DELHI: New solar and wind power projects may have to install battery storage alongside generation capacity from 2027, with govt proposing a phased storage requirement as part of revised technical standards for renewable energy plants.Under the draft regulations issued by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) on Thursday, ground-mounted solar and onshore wind projects commissioned after July 1, 2027 will have to install co-located energy storage equivalent to at least 10% of their installed capacity, with a minimum storage duration of two hours.This means a 100 MW solar plant would need at least 10 MW of storage capacity capable of storing electricity for two hours, or 20 MWh.The requirement will become more stringent for projects commissioned after July 1, 2029 and up to June 30, 2031. Such projects will have to provide storage equivalent to 10% of installed capacity but with a minimum duration of four hours. A 100 MW plant would therefore require 10 MW/40 MWh of storage.The move comes as the share of renewable energy in the power mix rises and the grid increasingly has to manage fluctuations in solar and wind generation. While there is abundant renewable generation during solar hours, it can lead to curtailment due to insufficient evacuation capacity. Storage will allow surplus electricity to be stored and used during non-solar hours.More than 8,133 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of solar energy – equivalent to 1.5 days of the entire country’s total power consumption or enough to power nearly 1.4 million homes for an entire year – was curtailed during the first quarter of the ongoing financial year as the grid could not absorb excess supply during daytime. “Large-scale deployment of battery energy storage systems and grid-forming inverters are crucial for integrating renewable energy into the grid,” said a new and renewable energy ministry official.The CEA has also proposed that renewable energy plants commissioned after July 1, 2027 have at least 15% of their inverters equipped with grid-forming control. All power conversion systems of battery energy storage systems will also have to have grid-forming capability.
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Grid-forming technology allows power electronic equipment to help establish and maintain grid voltage and frequency, which becomes increasingly important as the share of inverter-based renewable generation rises.Stakeholders have been asked to submit suggestions on the draft Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines) 2nd Amendment Regulations, 2026 by Oct 4.