India to see major growth in sodium-ion battery tech in 2-3 years

India's sodium-ion battery tech is nearing commercial production within 2-3 years, having reached TRL 7, said Renewable Energy Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi. The country is also developing vanadium flow batteries and aims for 411 GWh of storage.

Sodium-Ion Battery Tech Nears Commercialisation

India is expected to witness significant growth in sodium-ion battery technology as researchers have reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 and above, Renewable Energy Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi said on Friday, noting that the technology could move from pilot projects to commercial production within two to three years.

"A lot of research is going on in this area. In sodium-ion batteries, there are researchers who have reached a TRL of 7 and above. Once you reach that stage, moving from a pilot to commercial production should take anywhere between two to three years. So, we should expect significant growth there," Sarangi said responding to a question from ANI on the sidelines of the BNEF Summit.

Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is a scale used to assess the maturity of a technology, with TRL 7 indicating that a system prototype has been demonstrated in an operational environment.

Alternative Storage Solutions and National Targets

Sarangi said the government expects alternative battery technologies to play an increasing role as India expands energy storage to support the growing share of renewable energy.

On vanadium flow batteries, he said domestic manufacturers are working to develop supply capacity, while growing demand could help bring down costs.

"In vanadium flow batteries, as I mentioned, NTPC Green Energy Limited has placed an order for 100 megawatts. There are domestic manufacturers who are working and ensuring the supply of that capacity," he said.

"Once the demand grows and the volume increases, we expect vanadium flow battery prices to fall, and that will be a game changer in the future," Sarangi added.

Sarangi said the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) estimates that India would have about 411 GWh of energy storage by 2031-32 and that the country is on track to achieve the requirement earlier.

"The CEA estimates suggest that we would have about 411 gigawatt-hours of storage by 2031-32. We are well on track and should, in fact, be able to achieve it before that," he said.

He said the current level of storage is lower, but tenders and orders indicate that a significant amount of battery energy storage capacity is already under development.

"The current level is less, but if you look at the tenders and placement of orders, about 156 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage systems are under process and under implementation," Sarangi said.

Focus on Battery Recycling

On battery recycling, Sarangi said the government is working on the issue under the existing e-waste framework.

"We are working on it. That is part of the e-waste rules. But if further detailing is required, then it will be done," he said.

Boosting Domestic Polysilicon Manufacturing

Sarangi also said the government is working on a new scheme to support domestic polysilicon manufacturing, as the capacity expected under the earlier Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme would be limited.

"The first one was a PLI scheme where polysilicon, wafers, cells and modules were all part of it. So, a very small capacity is likely to come up as part of that. But since we require a much larger capacity, we are thinking about and working on a scheme that will support the manufacturing of polysilicon," he said.

He said India would look at adding at least 30 GW of polysilicon capacity by 2030 to strengthen the country's energy security and manufacturing resilience.

"To ensure India's energy security and ensure that India's manufacturing resilience is maintained, a capacity of 30 gigawatts and above should be good for the Indian context. So, we would look at least 30 gigawatts of capacity addition by 2030," Sarangi said. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)