Adani Green expands battery storage capacity to 6.63 GWh at Khavda

Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) on Thursday said it has expanded its operational Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) capacity at Khavda in Gujarat to 6.63 gigawatt-hours (GWh), up from 3.55 GWh in June, taking its share to more than half of India's operational battery storage capacity.

India had about 12.6 GWh of operational BESS capacity, based on Central Electricity Authority data as of August 31 and subsequent industry disclosures, according to the company. The latest addition gives AGEL a share of more than 50% of the country's operational capacity as large-scale battery storage begins to assume a bigger role in integrating renewable electricity into the grid.

Capacity nearly doubles

The expansion represents an addition of 3.08 GWh in about three months. AGEL said it reached the 6.63 GWh operational capacity milestone within 14 months of beginning on-site BESS construction at Khavda, while the latest capacity addition was commissioned within 10 months of the start of its construction.

The storage system is integrated with AGEL's renewable energy development at Khavda, where the company is building a 30 GW renewable energy project across 538 sq km of barren land.

According to the company, the 6.63 GWh installation is now the world's largest operational battery energy storage system at a single location. The claim marks a further scale-up from May, when AGEL announced cumulative operational storage capacity of 3.37 GWh at the site.

Enough for two million homes

AGEL said the 6.63 GWh system can store enough clean electricity to power around two million homes for a day. It can also support the peak electricity demand of cities such as Nagpur, Patna or Visakhapatnam for several hours.

To illustrate the scale, the company said the storage capacity was equivalent to batteries in more than 1,50,000 mid-sized electric vehicles, assuming a 40 kWh battery pack for each vehicle.

It also said the facility could store enough electricity each day to meet almost twice the Delhi Metro's estimated daily electricity requirement.

Battery storage is becoming increasingly important as India's solar and wind generation expands. Unlike conventional power plants, solar and wind output varies with weather and time of day, creating a need for storage systems that can absorb surplus electricity and release it when demand rises or renewable generation falls.

Making renewables dispatchable

The Khavda BESS uses lithium-ion battery technology integrated with an Energy Management System and automated telemetry. These systems control charging and discharging, monitor performance and enable the storage facility to provide services to the electricity grid.

Large battery systems can help address one of the central challenges associated with renewable energy — the difference between when electricity is generated and when consumers need it.

Solar plants, for instance, produce heavily during daylight hours, while electricity demand can remain elevated after sunset. Batteries allow a portion of daytime generation to be stored and supplied later, reducing curtailment and making renewable electricity more flexible.

“Reaching 6.63 GWh of operational battery storage in just 14 months is a significant milestone for AGEL and India's clean energy transition,” Executive Director Sagar Adani said.

He said storage at such a scale could make renewable electricity “firmer, more reliable and dispatchable” when required by the grid.

10 GWh addition targeted

AGEL said it remains on track to add more than 10 GWh of battery storage during 2026-27. The company is targeting 50 GWh of storage capacity over the next five years, which would represent a substantial expansion from its present operational base.

Reaching 6.63 GWh means the company has already achieved roughly two-thirds of the more than 10 GWh battery storage addition it has targeted for the current financial year.

The company is also pursuing pumped storage projects as part of its strategy to develop renewable electricity that can be supplied more reliably according to grid demand.

Pumped storage and batteries perform broadly similar grid-balancing functions but operate differently. While batteries store electricity electrochemically, pumped hydro projects use surplus electricity to move water to a higher reservoir and release it later through turbines when power is required.

Khavda project expands

The battery installation forms part of AGEL's much larger development at Khavda, where the company is building a renewable energy complex with a planned capacity of 30 GW.

AGEL currently has an operational renewable energy portfolio of 20.76 GW across 12 states and has set a target of reaching 50 GW of renewable generation capacity by 2030.

The scale of battery deployment alongside generation capacity is significant because India's renewable expansion is increasingly shifting from simply adding solar and wind capacity towards ensuring that variable renewable electricity can be integrated reliably into the grid.

As renewable energy's share of the power system rises, storage can absorb excess generation, provide electricity during peak-demand periods and reduce the amount of clean power that has to be curtailed because the grid cannot immediately use it.

Storage takes centre stage

India has been accelerating battery storage deployment through standalone projects as well as renewable energy projects bundled with storage. The transition is being driven by the rapid expansion of solar and wind capacity and the need to maintain grid reliability as the share of variable generation rises.

At approximately 12.6 GWh of operational BESS capacity, the domestic market remains at an early stage compared with the volume of storage that will be required as renewable capacity expands over the coming years.

AGEL's increase from 3.55 GWh in June to 6.63 GWh now makes Khavda a major part of that emerging storage network. The company's next phase will involve scaling battery capacity further while simultaneously developing pumped storage, as it seeks to move from intermittent renewable generation towards electricity that can increasingly be supplied when the grid needs it.