Minimize supply-chain risks: Here’s how India could pursue self-sufficiency in energy storage

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India needs to rethink its power storage options in the light of an energy shock that has exposed the fragility of global supply chains. Since geopolitical conflict and wobbly rules of international engagement are unlikely to relieve us of trade clamps being used as weapons, we must adjust our cost and security calculus accordingly. At particular risk are battery electric storage systems (BESS) that are now increasingly favoured by renewable energy (RE) producers for grid-scale storage.

In his first term as US president, Donald Trump had begun barring China from access to what it deemed vital technology. It shattered the illusion of Big Tech’s offerings being part of the global commons, as it were, open to all for a fee. When Trump launched his tariff war on the global economy in his second term, China retaliated by curbing access to critical minerals, done by tightening its grip on supply.

India was among the importers that suffered collateral damage from this trade tit-for-tat between the two current archrivals for world power. The Gulf war’s Hormuz crisis that has disrupted hydrocarbon supply this year is just the latest example. Commerce works, but only so long as it works.

Extra-commercial considerations could kick in with little notice—and with no provocation by us—to wreak havoc on our vital infrastructure. Globally, China dominates the field of BESS, whether we go by its technology, production, global market share or supply chains that go all the way back to mines and minerals—from nickel and cobalt to lithium and copper, all vital inputs for batteries. Some capacity for energy storage is unavoidable in a grid fed by RE, given the variability of its generation and need for grid