SECI invites expression of interest for 1GWh battery energy storage system

State-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited expression of interest (EoI) for 1,000 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a CPSU under Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, has called for the expression of interest for procurement of 1,000 MWh BESS, a statement by power ministry said.

According to statement, this will be published along with the RFS bid document and the draft comprehensive guideline for procurement and utilisation of BESS as a part of generation, transmission and distribution assets and with all ancillary services.

This will be discussed in the pre-bid conference scheduled to be held on 28th October 2021 at 4pm, it stated.

Based on the suggestions and the feedback from various stakeholders, the final RFS document will be floated in the first week of November 2021, along with the final comprehensive guidelines for procurement and utilization of BESS as a part of generation, transmission and distribution assets and with all ancillary services.

The government has given go ahead for inviting the expression of interest for installation of 1,000 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) as a pilot project.

This is a joint effort of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the Ministry of Power that have been working on providing a road map for the installation of the energy storage system in the country.

To support the ambitious goal of achieving 450 GW renewable energy target of the MNRE by 2030, it is important that it gets duly supported with installation of energy storage systems (battery energy storage system, hydro pump storage plants etc).

Going forward, India plans to use energy storage system under various business cases including renewable energy along with the energy storage system energy storage system.

It will also be used as grid element to maximize the use of transmission system and strengthening grid stability and also to save investment in the augmentation of transmission infrastructure.

Besides BESS will be used as an asset for balancing services and flexible operation.The system operator i.e. load dispatchers (RLDCs and SLDCs) may use storage system for frequency control and balancing services to manage the inherent uncertainty/variations in the load due to un-generation.

Storage will be used for distribution system i.e. it may be placed at the load centre to manage its peak load and other obligations. The BESS will also be used as a merchant capacity by the energy storage system developer and sell in the power market. Any other future business models as a combination of the above, it stated.