First steps in storage hybrid projects – is India the next emerging market to watch?
Plans are moving forward for two hybrid projects in India, including a large solar, wind and storage project in Andhra Pradesh, combining 160MW of renewable power with a planned 20-40MWh of energy storage. A smaller demonstration project is in the works for Kerala.
Tenders for the Andhra Pradesh project, in development byAP Solar Energy Corporation, AP Nedcap and APTransco, are planned for March 2018. The storage technology has not yet been decided upon, but will make up part of a new solar farm in Anantpur. At the time of writing, this will be one of India’s biggest hybrid projects. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), with support from the World Bank, is providing some of the required investment.
In the southern Indian state of Kerala, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have stated that a tender for a hybrid renewable and storage large-scale demonstration project is due to be sent out in one month’s time. A combined 7 MW of renewable energy (3 MW of solar, 4 MW of wind) is planned for the demo project, to be installed at Ramakkalmedu.
Battery energy storage has been selected but the total planned capacity has not yet been announced. Lithium-ion will make up the majority of the batteries, with some sodium sulphide (NAS) and potentially lithium ferro.
The Kerala project is designed to educate the public and has deliberately been located in a popular tourist area. A training centre is to be built on the project site, allowing visitors to observe its operation and learn from the studies and performance evaluations that take place.
The Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT) has already bought the land for the project and has received government sanction for the first phase of the project. The entire programme is expected to take close to 3 years. Investor meetings are due to take place in the Middle East in 2018 to seek funding from expat Indians.
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