India's CERC drafts grid code rules for standalone battery storage
Serguey Asael Shinder1 min readIndia's Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has proposed grid-operating rules for standalone energy storage, Energy-Storage.news reports. The proposals are part of the draft second amendment to the Indian Electricity Grid Code Regulations 2023, dated 21 September, and the regulator is taking comments until 21 October.
Under the draft, a standalone storage system would generally have to complete a successful trial run covering at least 50 MW of aggregate capacity before commercial operation. Larger projects would get provisions for staged commissioning, so parts can be demonstrated and brought into service before the whole is finished, and the draft sets out how delays in commissioning are handled. Storage connected at 33 kV and above would face primary frequency-response requirements, making it part of the system's first line of defence when frequency moves.
The draft follows a separate proposal earlier this month from the Central Electricity Authority to require grid-forming inverter capability and co-located storage for new renewable projects from July 2027. Under that draft, at least 15% of inverters would need grid-forming capability, and ground-mounted solar and onshore wind projects would need storage equal to at least 10% of capacity, with duration rising from two to four hours from July 2029.
What it means
Rules like these are what turn batteries from projects into grid assets: they define how a battery proves it works and what it must do when the grid is stressed. India is writing them at the same time as it expects storage capacity to jump from around 1 GWh to tens of GWh within two fiscal years, so the details in this draft will shape a large fleet from its first day.