India is seeking $70 million in financing from Climate Investment Funds (CIF) to catalyze the deployment of critical energy storage system (ESS) infrastructure and grid-strengthening projects.

According to India’s Renewable Energy Integration Investment Plan (REI IP), prepared by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), $5 million of this concessional funding would be sought for technical assistance, including project preparation grants and capacity building.

CIF enables climate-smart planning and action in low—and middle-income economies and provides low-cost, long-term financial solutions to help them achieve their climate objectives.

The government of India has identified ESS, grid infrastructure strengthening, and technical assistance for $1.1 billion in funding from the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), development partners, and the private sector. The proposed focus areas capture the immediate and near-future needs of India’s power system, which is set to be dominated by green energy.

• ESS deployment: The projects are aligned with one of the qualifying themes of CIF REI Program -Enabling Round-the-Clock (RTC) supply through advanced grid management and energy storage at the State level
• Infrastructure strengthening: Projects will support grid strengthening in one or more renewable energy-rich states and infrastructure (including port infrastructure) to support offshore wind development
• Technical assistance across the RE grid integration value chain: These interventions are a pivotal element of the CIF REI program, addressing a spectrum of regulatory, technical, and capacity needs critical for enhancing the uptake of renewable energy. The proposed intervention will focus on advanced forecasting tools and innovative methods for RE uptake of RE, which are key gaps in the current renewable energy market and integration context.

The financing and technical assistance interventions under this REI IP are expected to enhance renewable energy integration, facilitate the uptake of zero-carbon electricity in India’s electricity mix, and attract private sector investment across the RE integration value chain.

The expected outcomes are:

• Increased renewable energy generation capacity by ~1500 MW and an additional ~2800 MUs/year of renewable energy
• Addition of energy storage capacity of ~1500 MWh
• Enhancing distribution and transmission infrastructure by facilitating ~3700 ckm of 33 kV distribution lines and ~580 ckm of 400 kV DC transmission infrastructure to enhance RE integration
• A reduction in the volume of CO2 emissions of ~3.2 MtCO2/year
• Improved policies and institutional capabilities, including advanced forecasting tools and successful third-party forecasting models for DISCOMs and REMCs; innovative methods for uptake of RE such as Contracts for Difference; introduction of new concepts like Virtual Power Plants, blockchain-based P2P rooftop solar systems, and RE-based EV charging.
• The $1.1 billion leveraged under the financing plan to support the creation of ~13,500 green jobs
• Better electricity reliability, resulting from a more diverse portfolio of domestically available renewable fuels and enhanced energy storage and grid management technologies and techniques
• Better resilience—especially of the transmission and distribution network—to climate-induced disasters and damage to infrastructure

The CIF Renewable Energy Integration Program is a strategic initiative designed to address the significant challenges and opportunities associated with India’s target of achieving 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, a substantial increase of capacity additions of 50 GW per annum from the current 15 GW per annum.

The government has invited stakeholder comments on the Draft REI IP within two weeks.

According to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Investment 2024 report, global energy investment in 2024 is projected to exceed $3 trillion, with $2 trillion dedicated to clean energy technologies and infrastructure.