The 10 MW grid-connected system will be owned by AES and Mitsubishi Corporation. Fluence, a supplier of energy storage technology jointly owned by Siemens and AES, supplied the Advancion lithium-ion storage technology for the project.

Battery-based energy storage projects enable electricity to be stored and then delivered within milliseconds, reducing instability of the electric grid and enabling more energy to be captured and delivered on demand.

According to AES, this 10 MW project is located at a Delhi substation operated by Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL). It is expected to provide grid stabilization, peak load management, add system flexibility, enhance reliability and protect critical facilities for two million consumers served by Tata Power-DDL.

“Grid-scale energy storage will pave the way for ancillary market services, power quality management, effective renewable integration and peak load management of Indian grids,” said Praveer Sinha, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Power.

“This, India’s first grid-scale battery-based storage system, will address our key challenges in the areas of peak load management, system flexibility, frequency regulation and reliability of the network, said Sanjay Banga, CEO of Tata Power-DDL.

“Battery-based energy storage has an essential role to play in helping India realize its vision for a more sustainable energy future,” said Andrés Gluski, AES president and CEO.

State and central governments are taking steps to push utility-scale solar projects equipped with storage. In December 2018, Mercom reported on the news of Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) requesting the Haryana Power Purchase Centre (HPPC) to study the financial viability of a solar project coupled with battery energy storage system.

Recently, Mercom reported on the news of a proposal to develop a 14 MW solar project with an aggregate battery storage capacity of 42 MWh in Leh and Kargil.