Even as fuel prices remain entangled with global geopolitical events, Indian companies are looking to create self-sufficiency in alternative forms of energy.
Adani Green Energy Ltd has commissioned a cumulative 3.37 Gigawatt-hour (GWh) Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Khavda, Gujarat — the world’s largest single-location battery storage deployment outside China and among the fastest executed globally, says the company.
A Record-Breaking Build
The BESS at Khavda was delivered within just 10 months of construction commencing on-site — one of the fastest utility-scale battery storage deployments globally. The total capacity includes 1.37 GWh commissioned in March 2026, taking AGEL’s operational battery storage at the site to 3.37 GWh.
To put the scale in perspective: the system can store enough clean energy to power nearly one million homes for an entire day — enough to support peak electricity demand across cities like Indore or Chandigarh, or the entire state of Goa. It can also power more than 12 million LED bulbs continuously for ten hours.
The BESS integrates advanced energy management systems with lithium-ion battery technologies, optimised for efficiency, grid reliability, and responsiveness.
Why This Matters
India’s renewable energy output — solar and wind — is inherently variable. It spikes midday, drops at night, fluctuates with seasons, and does not follow demand curves. Battery storage solves this: it absorbs surplus power when generation peaks and releases it when the grid needs it most, enabling round-the-clock green power delivery without fossil fuel backup.
For a country that imports over 80% of its crude oil and remains exposed to every swing in global oil markets, building out domestic storage at this scale is more than a climate play — it is an energy security strategy.
Khavda: The World’s Biggest Renewable Hub, Now With Storage
The BESS sits alongside AGEL’s Khavda Renewable Energy Park — a 30 GW hybrid solar-wind project under development across 538 sq km of barren land in Kutch, Gujarat. At that size, the park is five times the area of Paris and roughly as large as Mumbai. With 9.9 GW already operational, Khavda is on track to become the largest power plant on earth across all energy sources when complete in 2029.
Adding utility-scale storage to this generation complex transforms Khavda from a massive intermittent power source into a dispatchable clean energy platform — one that can supply power on demand, not just when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.
AGEL’s Ambition: 50 GWh of Storage by 2031
The 3.37 GWh commissioning is just the opening move. AGEL plans to add over 10 GWh of battery storage capacity in FY27 alone, with a target of 50 GWh over the next five years. That trajectory would make it one of the largest BESS operators in the world.
Sagar Adani, Executive Director of AGEL, framed the milestone in strategic terms: “Large-scale energy storage will play a defining role in the next phase of India’s clean energy transition. Our investments in battery storage reflect a long-term commitment to building future-ready clean energy infrastructure at global scale.”
The AI and Grid Connection
The BESS development carries an underappreciated dimension: AI-powered grid management. AGEL has deployed advanced energy management systems at Khavda that use machine learning to forecast generation, predict demand, and optimise charge-discharge cycles in real time. As India’s data centre and AI infrastructure buildout accelerates — driving surging electricity demand — dispatchable, clean, 24/7 power becomes a critical input, not just a nice-to-have.
Battery storage at gigawatt-hour scale, managed by intelligent systems, is part of what makes AI-era power infrastructure viable.
India’s Wider BESS Race
Adani isn’t alone in the push — it’s just ahead, and by a large margin at the utility scale. Several other Indian companies are building out storage capacity, each approaching it differently. JSW Energy has emerged as the most aggressive utility-scale BESS developer after Adani, with nearly 2 GW of awarded capacity across multiple tenders. Tata Power has taken an early-mover position in integrated projects — commissioning a 100 MW solar farm paired with 120 MWh BESS in Maharashtra in 2025, and securing India’s first “Battery-Backed Supply Purchase Agreement” with NTPC for a storage project in Kerala.
Meanwhile, NTPC, the state-run power giant, is running India’s most ambitious multi-site BESS programme: a 1,700 MW/4,000 MWh deployment spread across 11 thermal stations, the largest storage programme by capacity in the country. Greenko, backed by GIC and ADIA, is betting on a different technology entirely — pumped hydro storage. Its flagship Pinnapuram project combines 4 GW solar, 1 GW wind, and 10 GWh of pumped hydro in Andhra Pradesh, valued at $4.2 billion.
Then there’s Ola Electric, which entered the BESS space in early 2026 with a product called Ola Shakti — but it’s a residential play, not a utility-scale one. Built at the company’s Gigafactory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, using its indigenous 4680 Bharat Cells, Shakti is a home battery system (available in 1.5 kWh to 9.1 kWh variants) designed to replace lead-acid inverters and diesel generators for households, farms, and small businesses. Ola has said it expects BESS to eventually consume more cell output from its gigafactory than its electric scooters.
The Central Electricity Authority projects India will need 74 GW/411 GWh of storage by 2032. Against that number, even AGEL’s 3.37 GWh milestone — the largest single-site deployment outside China — is a first step.
The Bigger Picture
India has set a target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. Getting there requires not just more generation, but the storage to make that generation reliable. Adani Green’s commissioning at Khavda establishes an execution benchmark — 3.37 GWh in 10 months — that could accelerate the entire sector’s confidence in large-scale BESS deployment.
For a country long at the mercy of imported oil prices and geopolitical disruptions, that benchmark matters.