India’s first solar storage facility in Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh’s new solar storage plant seeks to deliver continuous power, expanding India’s renewable energy landscape with low-cost nighttime electricity.

India is on pace to build its first solar power storage facility in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. Construction is set to begin in 2025, with the facility scheduled to be operational by 2027. This ambitious initiative aims to provide steady electricity supply even at night, a rare feature for solar arrays that typically generate power only during daylight hours.

The planned 600 MW storage plant will cover around 3,000 hectares and is expected to cost around ₹ 3,500 crore. It will include innovative storage technology to capture solar energy generated throughout the day and make it available after dusk. This feature will provide a consistent power supply at night, perhaps reducing reliance on traditional power sources and relieving stress on the electrical system during peak nighttime demand.

The plant’s significance goes beyond innovation in electricity generation; it has important implications for agriculture. Both Madhya Pradesh and adjacent Uttar Pradesh would be able to give farmers with nocturnal electricity at a low cost of ₹ 4 to 5 per unit, which will be especially useful during the Rabi crop season, which runs from November to April. This might significantly lower the government’s electricity subsidy burden, which generally climbs during this period to meet agricultural irrigation needs. The use of solar energy is predicted to reduce the cost of power delivery, relieving financial strains on both states.

The construction of this storage facility demonstrates Madhya Pradesh’s continued commitment to renewable energy. The state is already a leader in solar energy production in India, with one of the world’s largest solar power facilities located in Rewa. The Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power Project, with a capacity of 750 MW, is one famous example. Of the entire energy produced by this plant, 76 percent is routed to Madhya Pradesh’s electricity grid, with the remaining 24 percent going to the Delhi Metro, proving the impact of solar power on both regional and interstate levels.

As India moves towards sustainable energy solutions, the Morena solar power storage project is poised to become a watershed moment in the country’s renewable energy journey. By assuring a steady power supply to the agricultural sector, it paves the way for more widespread solar power uses in a variety of sectors, demonstrating the promise of solar storage systems in advancing India’s renewable energy goals.

29