India To See 10-Fold Leap In Battery Energy Storage Capacity This Year
“All eyes will remain on whether the performance of these projects is in line with what was committed. 2026 will be the year when a number of projects will enter the operational phase": IESA president Debmalya Sen
New Delhi: India will see nearly a 10-fold jump to battery energy storage capacity addition to 5GWh this year from 507 MWh in 2025 mainly due to the huge backlog of projects under execution, according to a study of India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) released on Tuesday.
The report, however, said that 2025 was defined by unprecedented tendering activity -- 69 tenders totalling 102 GWh, nearly equal to all tenders issued between 2018 and 2024 combined and 2026 will be the year the industry proves itself operationally, as the wave of tenders awarded since mid-2023 finally materialise into commissioned assets with typical project timelines of 18-24 months.
An IESA statement on the study stated that India's energy storage sector is poised for a transformative breakout in 2026, with battery energy storage capacity addition set to surge nearly 10-fold from 507 MWh in 2025 to approximately 5 GWh. “2026 marks a critical inflection point as the industry transitions from tendering to execution, with 60 GWh of projects entering the implementation phase following a record-breaking 2025 that saw cumulative capacity (under execution) surge 84 per cent to reach 224 GWh,” the report revealed.
“All eyes will remain on whether the performance of these projects is in line with what was committed. 2026 will be the year when a number of projects will enter the operational phase. The next challenge is financing of these projects, especially the ones with low tariffs,” IESA president Debmalya Sen said in the statement.