Saurabh Kumar of GEAPP Discusses India’s Kilokari Project as a Model for Battery Energy Storage Solutions

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**Interview with Saurabh Kumar, Vice President – India at GEAPP**
**Saurabh Kumar of GEAPP Highlights Kilokari Project as India’s Benchmark for Battery Storage**
June 13, 2025. By Abha Rustagi

As India accelerates its energy transition, adopting next-generation storage solutions will be essential for maintaining grid stability and effectively integrating large volumes of renewable energy. This was emphasized by Saurabh Kumar, Vice President – India at GEAPP, in an interview with Abha Rustagi, Associate Editor of Energetica India.

**Question:** Could you share the key technical and strategic highlights of the Kilokari 33/11 kV BESS project?
**Answer:** The recently commissioned Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Kilokari, Delhi, developed in collaboration with IndiGrid, AmpereHour, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), is India’s first utility-scale standalone project. Located at BRPL’s 33/11 kV Kilokari substation in South Delhi, this 20 MW/40 MWh facility covers approximately 2,500 m² and is designed to achieve at least 85 percent round-trip efficiency in its first year, tapering to 82 percent by year twelve, with guaranteed annual availability of 95 percent. By providing dispatchable power, it enhances grid flexibility and facilitates a greater integration of low-cost variable renewable energy into Delhi’s energy mix, benefiting around 12,000 consumers with a more reliable electricity supply.

**Question:** What role is GEAPP playing in this project, and how does it align with your goal of deploying 1 GW of BESS for DISCOMs by 2026?
**Answer:** GEAPP is integral to this project, offering both technical expertise and financial support throughout its lifecycle—from the pre-feasibility stage and regulatory submissions to project commissioning and post-commissioning support for three years. The main objective is to demonstrate the value of BESS at the DISCOM level, enabling replication by all DISCOMs across the country. One of GEAPP’s key contributions was a concessional loan covering 70 percent of the project cost, while the remaining 30 percent equity was provided by the winning bidder, Indigrid. This financial structure ensured that the tariff determined through the RFP process was attractive to the state regulator, which subsequently approved a 12-year capacity-based, levelized tariff for the project. This arrangement guarantees Indigrid a stable revenue stream over the project’s lifespan, independent of actual capacity utilization, which remains the responsibility of BRPL. Recently, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) highlighted that India will require 47 GWh of BESS deployment by 2032 to integrate the targeted 500 GW of renewable energy. In this context, GEAPP aims to deploy 1 GW of BESS for DISCOMs by 2026. The Kilokari BESS project serves as a model for future initiatives and sets a significant precedent for other DISCOMs to incorporate BESS into their power grids.

**Question:** How do you assess the current maturity of the BESS ecosystem in emerging markets like India?
**Answer:** The BESS market in India is poised for unprecedented growth, driven by the country’s ambitious renewable energy targets and the urgent need for grid stabilization as large-scale solar and wind capacities are deployed. By the end of 2021, India had only 20 MW of battery storage capacity, but substantial efforts are underway to expand this. The government has introduced policies and incentives to promote BESS, including financial support and regulatory measures. Investments from both domestic and international players have surged, leading to partnerships that inject essential capital and technological expertise. While India is still in the early stages of BESS adoption within its electricity delivery system, we have witnessed a surge in BESS tenders—over 31 GWh—released in the public domain over the past three years. Most of these tenders are for co-located renewable energy and BESS projects aimed at procuring round-the-clock power from renewables, with some large standalone BESS tenders also being issued at the transmission and distribution levels. Utility-scale storage will be crucial for integrating renewables, while decentralized solutions will attract commercial, industrial, and residential users seeking energy independence. Furthermore, the integration of BESS with electric vehicle charging infrastructure will drive urban storage demand, supporting India’s clean energy transition. Technological advancements in battery chemistry, combined with local manufacturing supported by production-linked incentives, will enhance cost efficiency and scalability.

**Question:** What practices should stakeholders follow while planning, financing, and operating battery storage systems at scale?
**Answer:** Successfully planning, financing, and operating battery storage systems at scale requires a system-oriented approach that aligns storage deployment with broader grid needs and renewable integration goals. Planning should be based on robust data, including resource adequacy studies and grid simulations, to determine optimal storage size, duration, and siting. The value streams and use cases identified in these studies should be integrated into tender documents to ensure developers design the right systems with appropriate safety standards. Financing strategies should utilize blended capital to mitigate risks in early projects, supported by clear revenue frameworks that allow storage to capitalize on multiple value streams, such as arbitrage, resource adequacy, and ancillary services. During operations, maintaining performance through stringent O&M protocols, battery health monitoring, and integration with dispatch optimization systems is vital to maximize the value provided to the grid and, consequently, to end consumers.

**Question:** Beyond lithium-ion, which emerging battery technologies do you see gaining traction?
**Answer:** We are observing a growing interest in ‘non-lithium’ technologies such as Sodium-ion, Iron-air, Redox Flow, and Nickel-Hydrogen batteries. These alternatives are being tested in various international markets for their potential to meet the demands of grid-scale applications. Given their promise, I believe some of these technologies will achieve commercial viability within the next 3 to 5 years. As India accelerates its energy transition, embracing next-generation storage solutions will be crucial for maintaining grid stability and effectively integrating large volumes of renewable energy. These technologies also help alleviate supply chain pressures related to lithium and other critical minerals, which are becoming increasingly scarce globally. While lithium-ion batteries currently dominate the market with over 90 percent share, the future of energy storage will depend on innovations that extend beyond current limitations—especially those that offer longer-duration storage capabilities of 6 to 10 hours or more and utilize more abundant raw materials.

**Question:** How is GEAPP supporting long-duration energy storage (LDES) development, and what role does it play in DISCOM-level grid reliability?
**Answer:** While short-duration energy storage (SDES) like the Kilokari project addresses intraday grid fluctuations and short peak loads, long-duration energy storage (LDES) is critical for enhancing DISCOM-level grid reliability by facilitating deeper integration of renewables. LDES can shift excess solar generation from midday to meet evening and overnight demand, effectively transforming variable renewables into a stable baseload source. LDES solutions will also be essential for managing the seasonality of renewable generation, such as shifting output from high-wind days to periods of low wind. As renewable penetration in the grid increases, LDES provides DISCOMs a pathway to reliably meet demand cost-effectively. Recognizing the crucial role of LDES as a system-wide enabler for flexible, resilient, and clean grids, GEAPP and its partners are working to develop an enabling environment and monetization frameworks for LDES while also testing the market readiness of various LDES technologies.

**Question:** What are the top 2–3 policy interventions needed from the Indian government to accelerate BESS deployment?
**Answer:** The Government of India (GoI) has implemented several policy measures to establish an enabling environment for energy storage. The National Framework for Promoting Energy Storage Systems, released by the Ministry of Power (MOP) in August 2023, outlines these policies and is a significant step towards creating a comprehensive national roadmap for accelerating storage development in the coming years. A critical next phase is to operationalize the policy framework by building institutional knowledge capacity and enforcing regulations for state-level entities, including DISCOMs, State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs), and State Load Dispatch Centres (SLDCs). The Forum of Regulators’ Report on Regulatory Frameworks for Energy Storage and Electric Vehicles, issued in November 2022, is a crucial starting point for preparing regulators and DISCOMs to integrate necessary energy storage technologies into the power system. Further regulatory considerations will assist stakeholders in effectively planning, evaluating, integrating, and operating energy storage technologies at the pace and volume needed to maintain a cost-effective and reliable power system. We also anticipate new policies and regulations that will enable BESS to participate in existing and upcoming ancillary markets. Lastly, developing robust sub-national and national resource adequacy (RA) plans, as outlined in the Grid Code, will be vital for advancing holistic, long-term investments in energy storage.
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