July 24, 2025: Tenders for a cumulative 171GWh of energy storage capacity have been launched in India over the past seven years — including more than 55GWh issued in the first half of this year alone, according to a new report.

The India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) said in figures published on July 12 that 118 energy storage-linked tenders, including renewable energy-plus-storage hybrids and standalone energy storage, have been held since the first in 2018.

The trade body said figures as of June 2025 show that of the 171GWh of total ESS capacity put to tender, this included 106GWh of pumped hydro energy storage and 66GWh of BESS systems.

IESA president Debmalya Sen said of around 56GWh put out to tender so far in 2025, around 22GWh was for battery storage.

While nearly 40GWh of tender-awarded capacity over the past seven years was subsequently cancelled, mainly in earlier procurements, a total of nearly 50GWh is known to be under construction across both technologies, including just under 40GWh of pumped hydro and just under 10GWh of BESS, IESA said.

However, IESA said the tenders represent only a significant first step towards the widespread adoption of energy storage needed to support India’s green energy transition goals, including the deployment and grid integration of 500GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. That goal includes 472GW of renewables, including solar and wind.