REconnect Summit Focuses on Solar with Battery Storage for India’s Clean Energy Future – Asia Pacific

At the REconnect Summit-25 in New Delhi, experts shared ideas on boosting solar with battery storage to deliver round-the-clock green power and help India reach its 500 GW renewable goal by 2030.

August 11, 2025. By EI News Network

As India accelerates towards its target of 500 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, solar power coupled with energy storage is emerging as a critical pillar for delivering round-the-clock green electricity, ensuring grid stability, and unlocking vast untapped renewable potential.

The growing importance of solar-plus-storage was in sharp focus at the REconnect Summit- 2025 in New Delhi, organised by Energetica India magazine, where industry leaders, technology pioneers, and policy experts gathered to discuss ‘Powering the Grid – Unlocking the Potential of Solar + Storage in India’.

The panel was moderated by Alexander Hogeveen Rutter, Electricity Sector Lead and Research Manager at Third Derivative. Other panelists included Saurabh Kumar, Vice President, The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP India); Arvind Jain, COO of Ornate Solar; Kartikeya Sharma, Co-Founder and CBO of Sunsure Energy; Bharath Rao, Founder and CEO of Emobi; Jharna Saha, Co-Founder and CMO of Enlog; Anil Bohara, Head of System Operation, SCADA, and Distribution Automation Projects at BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd.; and Shobhit Kumar, President – Renewables and COO of Datta Infra.

Panelists discussed investment models, advanced battery chemistries, domestic manufacturing, and the evolving policy, technology, market landscape shaping India’s storage future.

Kumar stressed the urgency of scaling up long-duration storage and adopting innovative financing mechanisms such as merchant investments to accelerate deployment. Calling India a “global laboratory” for renewable integration, he pointed to the country’s rapid solar and wind growth as a unique opportunity to pioneer new grid strategies.

Sharma highlighted the improving economics of battery storage, citing recent tenders where standalone systems offered 35–40 percent savings compared to peak-hour exchange power. Jain showcased niche innovations including Agri-PV, rail-integrated solar, and EV charging integration, urging targeted policy incentives to make these high-cost solutions commercially viable.

On the demand front, Saha presented AI- and IoT-driven optimisation platforms capable of reducing energy consumption in commercial and industrial facilities by up to 23 percent, thereby improving returns on storage investments.

In a sustainability-focused perspective, Rao outlined how repurposing retired EV batteries for stationary grid applications could cut costs and boost the clean mobility transition. Meanwhile, Kumar underscored the need to clarify storage’s regulatory classification, whether it should be treated as a generation, transmission, or distribution asset, given its role in balancing peaks, enhancing stability, and providing ancillary services.

The panel also addressed supply chain vulnerabilities, warning against over-reliance on a few nations for critical battery minerals and manufacturing, a situation that has led to price manipulation in the solar PV sector. Speakers advocated for rapid development of domestic sodium-ion and other advanced chemistries, alongside manufacturing equipment, and highlighted alternative storage forms such as flow batteries, compressed air, and thermal systems as part of a diversified approach.

Drawing a parallel to India’s near-total railway electrification, Rutter described it as proof of the economic viability of large-scale electrification, offering valuable lessons for industrial decarbonisation.

The discussion concluded with a consensus on incentivising emerging storage technologies through targeted policy, building domestic manufacturing and R&D capacity to secure supply chains, and aligning regulations with market design to accelerate adoption of solar plus storage for clean, reliable, 24/7 power delivery.

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