India extends waiver on transmission charges for energy storage projects to June 2028

The power ministry announced on Tuesday that India will waive all inter-state transmission fees for projects involving electricity storage until June 2028. This is in response to the country's ambitious goals of boosting energy storage and achieving its clean energy targets.

Power producers are paid by purchasers, who are typically distribution companies. This payment includes transmission charges.

The government has announced that it will waive 100% of the inter-state transmission charges (ISTS) for projects using pumped storage to move water up from a lower reservoir.

The waiver also applies to battery storage systems which are located in conjunction with renewable energy projects, and have been commissioned prior to the same date.

Last year, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission estimated that ISTS exemptions accounted for approximately 7% of transmission charges paid by power purchasers - primarily state distribution firms.

India is working towards its goal of installing 500 gigawatts (roughly triple its current energy capacity) of clean energy by 2030.

India Ratings and Research stated in a recent report that renewable energy sources like solar and wind can be intermittent and cyclical. This means there's a need to store power for times when production isn't possible.

India's renewable power output in May hit a new record of 24.7 billion kWh, a jump of 17.2% on the previous year. Clean energy's share within the overall power mix reached an unprecedented 15.4%, the highest level since records began in 2018.

The government has renewed the waivers for projects that store energy, but it has not yet provided a similar exception for projects that are commissioned after the June 30th deadline, when this policy expires.

Separately on Tuesday, the power minister approved a 54-billion rupees scheme ($631.30m) to support 30-gigawatt-hour batteries energy storage systems. $1 = 85.5338 Indian rupees (Reporting and editing by Sethuraman N.R.

(source: Reuters)