State-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has floated a tender to set up 500-MW/1,000-MWh standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) in India. The tender, the first of its kind in the country, will provide power distribution companies with storage facilities to be used on an “on-demand” basis, according to an official statement.
“The tender has been issued under the standard bidding guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power in March 2022. The total capacity to be set up under the RfS (request for selection) is 1,000 MWh (500 MW x 2hrs), which will constitute two projects of 500 MWh (250 MW x 2 hrs) capacity each. The projects will be installed in the vicinity of the Fatehgarh-III Grid-Substation of the ISTS network, in Rajasthan,” the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said in the statement.
It added that the buying entities will be offered the storage capacity to charge and discharge the same daily through RE (renewable energy), as per their energy shifting requirements.
“Out of the total capacity being installed under the tender, 60 per cent of the capacity will be off taken by SECI on behalf of the buying entities, and the offtake of 40 per cent of capacity will be the responsibility of the Developers, through third-party or market sale. Thus, through this tender, the government provides substantial support for market development in the energy storage domain,” the statement said.
It added that out of the 60 per cent capacity off taken by Solar Energy Corporation of India, 30 per cent will be earmarked to be used by National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) and POSOCO for grid ancillary services.
“The developer shall make the BESS available for two operational cycles per day, i.e. two complete charge-discharge cycles per day. The projects are required to demonstrate minimum availability of 95 per cent on an annual basis, a minimum round-trip efficiency of 85 per cent monthly, and suitable liquidated damages stipulated in case of shortfall in meeting the above criteria,” the ministry said.
It added that the term of the projects will be 12 years, with the scheduled commissioning date being 18 months from the date of signing of the battery energy storage purchase agreement (BESPA). Financial closure is to be achieved within 12 months of the signing of BESPA.
The tender marks the first tranche of the government’s immediate target of setting up 4,000 MWh of battery storage capacity as part of achieving increased penetration of RE in the national grid. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA)/MoP has prepared a report on optimal generation capacity mix for 2029-30. As per the report, a battery energy storage capacity of 27,000 MW/1,08,000 MWh (4-hour storage) is projected to be part of the installed capacity in 2029-30.
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