SECI invites bids for 1,000 MWh standalone battery storage system

State-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited bids for setting up pilot projects totalling 1,000 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) under the tariff-based global competitive bidding process. The last date for submitting bids is June 10. SECI issued a request for selection (RFS) on Wednesday and the agency will eventually enter into a Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA) once the successful bidder is decided. The Project capacity of 500 MWh each shall be located in the vicinity of Fatehgarh-III Substations of the ISTS network, in Rajasthan. “SECI has received interest from prospective buying entities across the country, to utilise energy storage systems, on a “On-Demand” basis, suited to their requirements during the peak and off-peak hours. In view of the above, SECI hereby wishes to invite proposals for setting up of ISTS-connected pilot projects of standalone BESS, for an aggregate storage capacity of 1,000 MWh,” the agency said in the bid document. The energy storage facility to be procured by SECI has been provisioned to be done on behalf of various buying entities whose details will be intimated at a later date, it added. According to studies by NITI Aayog, India’s battery storage market is expected to reach more than 1,000 GWh by 2030, translating to a cumulative market size of $250 billion The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has also estimated that for the deployment and integration of 500 GW non-fossil fuel capacity, there will be a need for 27 GW (108 GWh) of battery storage by 2030.  As of December 2021, SECI has successfully awarded more than 50 GW of renewable capacity across the country, out of which 32.69 GW is solar power, 12.73 GW is wind power and 5.35 GW is hybrid power. Besides, it has operational capex projects of 21 MW capacity under its ownership and the company is looking to expand its portfolio in renewable energy. These tenders are part of India’s transition to clean energy sources. India is home to one of the world’s largest RE programmes, with a target of 175 gigawatts (GW) of installed RE capacity by 2022. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to increase the country’s RE capacity to 500 GW by 2030. The government also has pledged to increase the contribution of RE sources in the country’s power generation to more than 50 per cent by the end of this decade with the objective to become carbon neutral by 2070.

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