The India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) has called on BRICS member nations, including Brazil, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to deepen cooperation on energy storage, critical mineral security and resilient supply chains to support India’s rapidly expanding clean energy transition. The recommendations were presented during a virtual event organised by the Ministry of Power (MoP), where IESA served as the technical coordinator, bringing together government officials and industry experts from India, Brazil, Russia and the UAE to discuss collaborative strategies for advancing next-generation energy storage technologies and strengthening domestic manufacturing.
The discussions come at a time when India’s clean industrial investment pipeline has reached an estimated US$433 billion, placing the country among the world’s top three centres for clean industrial development. The pipeline now comprises 65 projects spread across four sectors and 11 states, with investments accelerating in green hydrogen, renewable-energy-powered manufacturing, clean fuels, chemicals and low-carbon industrial production. According to IESA, the pipeline has expanded by nearly 30% over the past six months, reflecting growing investor confidence in India’s clean energy ecosystem.
India’s energy storage sector has emerged as one of the strongest drivers of this transformation, with the project pipeline now exceeding 100 GW. Gigafactory announcements, rising research and development investments and expanding state-level incentives are creating fresh momentum across the battery manufacturing ecosystem. Green ammonia currently leads new project announcements, while sustainable aviation fuel, green methanol and low-carbon aluminium are also attracting increasing investment as industries accelerate their decarbonisation efforts.
IESA President Debmalya Sen said energy storage has become indispensable for ensuring both grid flexibility and resilience as renewable energy capacity continues to expand. “Energy storage is now essential for both grid flexibility and resilience as renewable integration rises. No single technology can meet all system needs; diverse solutions and strong BRICS collaboration across value chains, manufacturing and innovation are critical,” he said.
Despite the rapid expansion, India continues to rely heavily on imports for critical minerals and key battery components, making supply chain security a growing concern. During the discussions, a government official noted that while nearly 10 GW of India’s energy storage capacity has already been commissioned, the country must strengthen its domestic manufacturing ecosystem to reduce external dependence. The official emphasised that expanding Production Linked Incentive (PLI) support to battery recycling, advanced chemistries and dedicated allocations for stationary energy storage would be essential for building a resilient domestic value chain.
The importance of securing upstream mineral supplies was echoed by José Jesus Lima Neto, Infrastructure Analyst at Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, who said clean energy technologies require substantially higher mineral inputs than conventional energy systems. He observed that the future growth of battery manufacturing depends on secure upstream supply and midstream processing, areas where BRICS nations collectively possess significant resource advantages. Brazil’s upcoming capacity-reserve auction for battery storage projects with national-content requirements is expected to accelerate domestic manufacturing while strengthening local value chains.
The UAE highlighted how energy storage is increasingly becoming a transmission and grid economics issue rather than simply a solution for renewable intermittency. Eng. Shuvendu Kumar Bose, Energy Expert at the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, said co-locating battery storage with renewable energy projects can improve dispatchability, flatten electricity tariffs, and reduce overall system costs. He added that the UAE’s large-scale solar-plus-battery projects demonstrate how integrated storage can improve system performance while raising important questions around tariff design and cost allocation.
Russia also emphasised the growing importance of distributed energy storage for improving local grid reliability. Yuri Vlasov, Founder and CEO of Watts Battery, said localised outages can occur even when the broader electricity grid remains adequate, making building-level storage a faster and more cost-effective solution than conventional grid reinforcement. He stressed that harmonised standards and joint pilot projects across BRICS countries would accelerate the deployment of distributed storage technologies.
Experts from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Brazil’s Electric Sector Studies Group (GESEL/UFRJ) also underscored the transformative potential of long-duration energy storage for future power systems. Throughout the discussions, participants emphasised the need for greater regulatory alignment, mutual recognition of testing standards, harmonised measurement protocols and collaborative demonstration projects to unlock the full potential of energy storage across BRICS economies.