India's Central Electricity Authority has proposed making battery storage mandatory for all new ground-mounted solar and onshore wind projects, a draft regulation that could reshape the country's renewable energy build-out and address chronic curtailment problems that have plagued its grid for years.
The proposal, issued on September 3, 2026, under Section 177 of the Electricity Act, 2003, would require developers to co-locate energy storage systems equivalent to at least 10 percent of a project's installed capacity, with a minimum duration of two hours. The requirements would apply to projects commissioned after July 1, 2027, and would become more stringent for projects built between July 2029 and June 2031.
What the Draft Regulation Requires
Under the draft Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines) 2nd Amendment Regulations, 2026, a 100 megawatt solar farm would need to pair with at least 10 megawatts of battery storage running for two hours — equivalent to 20 megawatt-hours of capacity. For projects commissioned during the second phase, from July 2029 through June 2031, that same 100 megawatt plant would need 10 megawatts per 40 megawatt-hours, doubling the storage duration while holding capacity at the same 10 percent threshold.
The regulation also mandates that at least 15 percent of inverters in new renewable plants have grid-forming control capability, and all battery energy storage system power conversion systems must incorporate grid-forming technology. Grid-forming inverters are critical for stabilizing voltage and frequency when renewable output fluctuates, and they allow storage systems to restart the grid after a blackout — a capability conventional inverters lack.
The Central Electricity Authority retained flexibility to modify the percentage requirement for grid-forming capability or energy storage capacity from time to time, giving it room to adjust thresholds as technology and grid conditions evolve. Stakeholders and members of the public have been invited to submit comments and objections by October 4, 2026. The draft regulations will be considered after 30 days from notification.
The Curtailment Crisis That Forced the Change
Despite installing 288 gigawatts of renewable capacity as of June 2026 — including 162 gigawatts of solar and 57 gigawatts of wind — India has been unable to fully utilize much of that generation. Grid and transmission constraints accounted for nearly two-thirds of all renewable energy curtailment in the first quarter of 2026, totaling roughly 300 gigawatt-hours, according to think tank Ember. Solar output during the hottest months and peak daytime hours is simply wasted because the coal fleet can't ramp down below its technical minimum and the grid lacks the capacity to absorb the surplus.
Santosh Sarangi, Secretary of India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, acknowledged the problem publicly last month, noting that solar developers have begun adding battery storage to attract buyers and reduce curtailment during peak daytime hours. Without storage, excess solar output floods the grid during midday and has nowhere to go, threatening to slow the country's renewable boom.
"India needs around 10 gigawatt-hours of battery storage immediately to stop renewable energy curtailment when the coal fleet cannot ramp down below its technical minimum," Ember said in a June analysis. The proposed mandate would institutionalize that solution, turning co-located storage from an optional add-on into a regulatory requirement.
Transmission bottlenecks have emerged as a key constraint as well, according to PV Tech Premium reporting in March. The country's grid infrastructure has expanded at a slower pace than the renewable energy installations boom, creating a mismatch that translates directly into wasted clean energy and lost revenue for project developers.
What the Mandate Means for the Industry
India's renewable pipeline is formidable. As of mid-2026, 149 gigawatts of solar, wind, hybrid, and storage projects were in the queue, according to JMK Research & Analytics. If the draft becomes law, a large portion of that pipeline would need to add battery storage to meet the new requirements, creating an immediate domestic market for grid-scale lithium-iron-phosphate and other battery chemistries. The site has covered the Battery Tech sector closely as storage prices fall and utility mandates multiply.
The mandate would effectively guarantee demand for tens of gigawatt-hours of storage capacity over the next decade. For context, SK On signed a 9 gigawatt-hour LFP cell supply deal with NeoVolta Power earlier this week to support battery energy storage system production in the United States through 2031. India's requirement, applied across its entire renewable pipeline, would demand orders of magnitude more supply.
The country has also been moving toward storage-backed procurement models in recent tenders. The Solar Energy Corporation of India tendered 1,200 megawatts of firm, dispatchable renewable energy backed by 4,800 megawatt-hours of co-located storage in June, and awarded a 1 gigawatt round-the-clock renewable tender in August, signaling that buyers are willing to pay premiums for renewable generation that can guarantee availability outside of daylight hours or high-wind periods.
Battery manufacturers, inverter suppliers with grid-forming capabilities, and project developers who can integrate storage into their balance sheets will be the immediate winners if the regulation moves forward. Companies with existing local manufacturing footprints or joint ventures that can supply lithium-iron-phosphate cells and inverters stand to capture the largest share of the new mandate's market.
The Tight Timeline and Supply Chain Pressure
The July 2027 deadline sets a firm calendar for the first wave of projects, and the four-hour storage requirement that kicks in two years later will add further pressure. Local battery cell production capacity in India remains limited compared to demand, and the country has historically relied on imports from China, South Korea, and other manufacturing hubs for the majority of its lithium-ion supply.
Whether domestic manufacturers can scale production fast enough to meet the mandate, or whether developers will need to stockpile imported cells ahead of the deadline, will determine how smoothly the transition unfolds. Inverter suppliers face similar pressure: grid-forming technology is less mature than conventional grid-following inverters, and scaling production to meet a national mandate within months is an even tighter window.
The CEA's proposal is still a draft, and industry lobbying could water down the requirements before final notification. But the direction is clear: India is moving from a model where renewables are added to the grid as standalone generation, toward one where storage is a prerequisite. For battery manufacturers, inverter suppliers, and project developers, the clock is already running.
Grid-Forming Technology Takes Center Stage
The draft's emphasis on grid-forming capability reflects a deeper shift in how grids handle high penetrations of renewable energy. Conventional grid-following inverters rely on a stable grid signal provided by synchronous generators like coal or gas plants. As renewable penetration increases and fossil generation decreases, the grid loses inertia and stability, making frequency regulation harder and blackouts more likely.
Grid-forming inverters, by contrast, can create their own voltage and frequency references, effectively acting as virtual synchronous generators. This allows them to stabilize the grid even when conventional generation is offline, and it enables battery storage systems to restart portions of the grid after an outage — a capability known as black start.
By requiring 15 percent of renewable plant inverters and all battery storage power conversion systems to have grid-forming control, the CEA is building resilience into the grid at the design stage, rather than retrofitting it later. It's a recognition that India's grid will need to operate very differently at 500 gigawatts of renewable capacity than it did at 50 gigawatts, and that the technical standards need to evolve in lockstep with deployment.
The question now is whether the regulatory framework, the supply chain, and the financing mechanisms can all align in time to meet the July 2027 deadline. If they do, India will have effectively legislated a domestic battery storage industry into existence. If they don't, the mandate could become a bottleneck that slows renewable deployment instead of stabilizing it.