Gensol Engineering won Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam’s (GUVNL) auction to set up pilot projects of 250 MW/500 MWh standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Gujarat under tariff-based global competitive bidding (Phase III).

Gensol quoted a tariff of ₹372,978 (~$4,463)/MW/month to win the entire capacity.

The company has also secured an additional 250 MW/500 MWh under the greenshoe option, increasing the total project capacity to 500 MW/1 GWh.

The projects will supply electricity on an on-demand basis to Gujarat power distribution companies during both peak and off-peak hours. Once commissioned at two Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation substations, the projects will deliver 500 MW/1 GWh of energy through two charge-discharge cycles per day.

The projects are expercted to generate a total revenue of ₹26.85 billion (~$321 million) over the 12-year battery energy storage purchase agreement period.

The tariff quoted in the auction was 17% lower than the ₹448,996 (~$5,424)/MW/month quoted by Gensol to win 70 MW/140 MWh under GUVNL’s Phase II auction to set up pilot projects of 250 MW/500 MWh standalone BESS in Gujarat.

Participants who failed to qualify are IndiGrid 2, JSW Neo Energy, Pace Digitek Infra, Continental Milkose, ACME Solar Holdings, JBM Renewables, Hinduja Renewables, Vikram Solar Cleantech, Apraava Energy, Solarcraft Power India 2, and SJVN Green Energy.

The tender was floated in March.

The projects will be developed under a build, own, and operate model. GUVNL seeks to utilize energy storage systems on an on-demand basis suited to the requirements of the state distribution companies during peak and off-peak hours.

The projects must be completed within 18 months from the effective date of the purchase agreement.

The tender had specified a minimum bid size of 140 MWh (70 MWh x 2 hours).

The BESS will be charged by drawing power from the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation network per the dispatch instructions issued by the state load despatch center. Charging and discharging of the system will be under the scope of GUVNL.

Gensol must maintain the transmission system up to the interconnection point. It will bear the entire infrastructure construction cost from the project up to the interconnection point.

The power rating of the project capacity of 500 MWh (250 MW x 2 hours) BESS will be 250 MW, i.e., the maximum value of the active output and input power at the delivery point. The system’s energy rating of 500 MWh will be the dispatchable capacity measured at the metering point.

Gensol must guarantee a minimum system availability of 95% annually.

The tender stipulated that the projects should adopt commercially established and operational technologies to minimize technology risks and comply with the codes and standards specified in the guidelines.