Sarangi further said that the renewable energy sector is looking beyond lithium-ion-batteries (LFP) and are betting big on sodium-ion batteries and vanadium flow batteries — an alternative to lithium-ion batteries.Hybrid renewable energy projects with high tariffs and vanilla solar projects are finding it difficult to secure buyers (power distribution companies) for their electricity, Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), said at the BloombergNEF Summit in New Delhi on Friday.Vanilla solar (or ‘plain vanilla solar’) refers to standard, standalone photovoltaic solar power projects that generate electricity directly from sunlight without integrated battery storage, wind pairing, or hybrid components.Responding to a question on the large quantum of renewable capacity awaiting power purchase agreement (PPA), Sarangi said Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies (REIAs) have been asked to explore ways to facilitate procurement of this capacity by distribution utilities (DISCOMs).Around 42 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity is currently without PPAs.“And if necessary, some changes in the profile could also be experimented within the rates discovered,” he said.Developers, he added, are increasingly adding battery energy storage systems (BESS) to vanilla solar projects to make them more attractive to DISCOMs.“From that point of view, we have seen a lot of our developers adding in battery energy storage into vanilla solar projects and making it more palatable to the DISCOMs to partake in those bids,” Sarangi said.Story continues below this adHowever, Sarangi said he foresees that a significant portion of the vanilla solar bids may not ultimately be sold.Referring to a regulation introduced by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in July 2026, Sarangi said, “And to that extent, we have also given an option. CERC has brought up a regulation in July 2026 which allows an exit option to the developer. So in case they have purchased bank guarantees for connectivity, then they can exit without forfeiting those bank guarantees. So that option has also been provided to the developers.”Sarangi said a large number of hybrid renewable energy and distributed renewable energy projects have already been sold. However, some hybrid tenders where the discovered tariff was higher are struggling to find buyers, while vanilla solar projects are also facing difficulties.In contrast, vanilla wind projects are increasingly being procured on priority by REIAs, with DISCOMs now receiving a larger number of such projects for procurement, he said.Story continues below this ad“So only vanilla solar and some hybrid projects probably will have to either…where the developer will have to either exit exercising their penalty-free exit option, or else REIAs will eventually have to cancel,” Sarangi said.He added that the ministry would continue its efforts to work with DISCOMs to ensure that the pending renewable energy capacity is procured.Sarangi also said that the government is looking to add around 30 GW of polysilicon manufacturing capacity by 2030.Polysilicon is a key raw material used in solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and India currently relies completely on imports for it.Story continues below this adSarangi further said that the renewable energy sector is looking beyond lithium-ion-batteries (LFP) and are betting big on sodium-ion batteries and vanadium flow batteries — an alternative to lithium-ion batteries.“You are aware that NTPC Green Energy Limited has now placed a 100 megawatt order for vanadium flow batteries and there are manufacturers within the country who are doing manufacturing of flow batteries. And I foresee that the cost will be fairly competitive with lithium-ion batteries in the next two to three years and that trajectory will allow a lot of these renewable projects to leverage battery energy storage systems to supply firm and reliable power,” he added.