Data Centres, AI & EVs to drive peak power demand to 300 GW in '27: Electricity Minister

New Delhi: India's peak power demand is set to reach 300 GW next year, driven by the rapid expansion of data centres, artificial intelligence and electric vehicle usage, power minister Manohar Lal said on Wednesday.

"According to estimates, we have already reached 271 GW, and projections suggest the peak may rise even further this year," Lal said while addressing the India Energy Storage Week.

In the coming years, as data centres expand, AI becomes prevalent and the subject of electric vehicles comes forward every year, power demand will keep increasing, he said.


Based on the rising demand and renewable energy addition, energy storage has become a national imperative, the minister said.

Central Electricity Authority chairperson Ghanshyam Prasad, who also addressed the gathering, said India is targeting around 160 GW of storage by 2035, with clear road maps for both battery and pumped hydro storage.

The country will require 888 GWh of energy storage system capacity by 2035-36, according to a joint report by the India Energy Storage Alliance and Customized Energy Solutions released Wednesday.

India's installed battery energy storage system capacity increased 11-fold to 8.7 GWh in the first half of the calendar year, and the country is on track to surpass 10 GWh by year-end, the report said.