Hanning India: Battery Storage for Sustainable Electricity Backup

Swapnil Garg, Bhavin J. Shah, Arijit Goswami

Product #:W47466

Supplier:Ivey

Discipline:Operations Management, Sustainability

Setting:India, 2024

Details:Case (PDF) • 10 pages • 2026-02-18

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On June 13, 2024, the managing director of Hanning Motors India Pvt. Ltd. was trying to determine the most suitable power backup system for his plant. The diesel generator set was originally the dominant option, but the managing director was compelled to reassess his position in light of evolving energy technologies, regulatory pressures, and corporate climate commitments. A recent news article made him look more closely at the battery energy storage system approach, as well as considering the option of simply leasing a power backup system and leaving all installation responsibilities to the vendor. He was grappling with having to reconcile operational reliability with cost efficiency for long-term environmental performance. Did the diesel generator set merely mask systemic problems while exacerbating the company’s carbon footprint? Could an emerging large-capacity battery energy storage system offer a credible and mature alternative? Should the company opt for leasing instead of owning the power backup system? diesel generator had to consider his options carefully.

Learning Objectives

This case is ideal for courses that cover sustainability-focused management—such as operations management, sustainable operations, sustainability in supply chain management, energy management, or technology and innovation management—at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is also suitable for enterprise managers, project managers, and procurement managers. It is particularly useful in modules that cover operations resilience, infrastructure planning, and technology adoption in emerging markets. It can also be a good fit for executive programs on technology adoption and environmental, social, and governance integration. Students employ a holistic decision framework and examine the inherent trade-offs involved in balancing operational, financial, and environmental aspects. They will focus on the need for a broader treatment of environmental impact, as emerging technologies have wider impacts hidden from plain sight, such as Scope 3 (direct and indirect) emissions of lithium-ion based energy storage systems.

After completion of this case, students will be able to do the following:

Develop insight on financial, operational, and environmental sustainability considerations—evaluating trade-offs between CAPEX and OPEX and investment decisions under uncertainty—while introducing novel technologies to solve traditional problems.
Discuss how environmental impact goes beyond directly visible emissions (Scope 1), requiring a comprehensive assessment of the entire value chain emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3).
Recognize the need for considering contextual aspects (e.g., usage patterns) that can influence the strategic decision-making process in the context of new technology adoption.
Undertake a data-driven analysis considering that counter-intuitive results may challenge inherent biases in the decision-making process.

Hanning India: Battery Storage for Sustainable Electricity Backup

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Learning Objectives