The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) has invited bids to set up a 250 MW/500 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Maithon, Jharkhand.

Bids must be submitted by May 21, 2025. Bids will be opened on May 22.

The project is part of Phase I of DVC’s plan to install a cumulative 500 MW/1,000 MWh BESS projects in Jharkhand and West Bengal.

The scope of work entails the design, engineering, installation, testing, and commissioning of the BESS project.

The project must be designed for 12 years, and bidders must provide operation and maintenance services.

It also involves designing, fabricating, and assembling a fully functional and transportable BESS. It must also entail a control system that provides standard input/output channels and appropriate control actions for all required operational and protective features.

The BESS project also includes a battery management system (BMS), an energy management system (EMS), a power conditioning system (PCS), a protection system, a communication system, and high and low-tension systems.

It must also include auxiliary power and a monitoring and control system.

Successful bidders must provide a minimum 12-year guarantee for the BESS battery, BMS, EMS, and PCS. They must supply 2% of the mandatory spares for all the project equipment.

They must also fully document the BESS’ design and expected performance and perform the system’s factory acceptance and type testing.

Additionally, successful bidders must obtain site-specific data for developing installation implementation plans. They must also supply the necessary project maintenance equipment and tools, and the initial complement of spare parts.

They must provide a warranty for the entire project and its equipment for 12 years.

Successful bidders must also perform the associated civil works. They must ensure a minimum project availability of 95% and an annual round-trip efficiency of at least 85%.

The BESS will be charged up to 85% from floating solar and hydroelectric projects. It must be designed to evacuate 250 MW for at least two hours/day to the grid during peak grid time.

The project must dispatch at least 70% of the total capacity till the end of its battery life.

Successful bidders must place the point of common coupling, point of interconnection, and metering system at the new 132 kV switchyard/ substation.

After the project’s commissioning, they must return 30% of the life cycle bank guarantee (LCBG) value. They must also return 60% of LCBG for 11 years at 5.45% per annum. The remaining LCBG must be returned at the end of the project life.

Bidders must have manufactured grid-interactive bidirectional PCS of a minimum cumulative installed capacity of 40 MW. At least one of the PCS installations must have a minimum capacity of 10 MW. The project must have been operational for at least six months.

Bidders must also have an in-house PCS routine testing facility.

Bidders who have not integrated a BESS of at least 40 MWh with the grid and have worked on one project of at least 10 MW can employ an engineering consultant/system integrator. The engineering consultant/system integrator must have integrated at least 40 MWh of BESS. At least one of the projects using the integrator must have a capacity of 5 MW. The project must have been operational for six months.

Bidders must procure batteries from manufacturers who have produced and supplied batteries for grid-interactive BESS of a minimum cumulative capacity of 40 MWh. At least one of these projects must have a minimum capacity of 5 MW.

Due to a decline in BESS prices in the recent past, the government increased BESS capacity to 13,200 MWh, up from 4,000 MWh, as part of the viability gap funding program.

According to Mercom Capital Group’s Annual and Q4 2024 Funding and M&A Report for Storage & Grid, corporate funding for energy storage companies, including VC investments, public market funding, and debt financing, increased 5% year-over-year.