The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has approved the Battery Energy Storage Sale Agreement signed by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to procure 150 MW/300 MWh energy storage capacity.

The Commission directed GUVNL to publicly disclose the name of the successful bidder, the tariff quotes, and the breakup received on its website for 30 days.

Background

SECI initiated a tariff-based competitive bidding process to develop 500 MW/1000 MWh of ISTS-connected battery energy storage projects. The projects are to be connected to ISTS and commissioned within 18 months of signing the agreement with the developers.

GUVNL conveyed in-principle consent for procuring 150 MW/300 MWh capacity from SECI’s project, stating that the discovered tariff was acceptable.

SECI informed GUVNL that 30% of capacity will be utilized for POSOCO (Grid India) ancillary services, 40% will be utilized for merchant capacity by the developer, and the remaining 30% (150 MW/300 MWh) will be offered to DISCOMs.

GUVNL may use excess generation to charge BESS, and during peak demand, GUVNL can reutilize that stored energy. The lowest tariff discovered is ₹1.08 million (~$12,928.2) per MW per month, additional facilitation charges of ₹5417.5 (~$64.85) per MW per month, additional facilitation charges of ₹5417.5 (~$64.80) per MW per month (0.5%) of applicable capacity charges, cumulative capacity charges of ₹1.08 million (~$12,928.2) per MW per month.

The Ministry of Power approved the project’s annual grant of up to ₹800 million (~$ 9.57 million)/annum from the Power System Development Fund (PSDF).

The amount chargeable from GUVNL would stand reduced by ₹444,444 (~$5,320.27) per MW per month, with ₹ 644,473(~$7,714.73) per MW per month as the effective price of BESS capacity.

The levelized cost of storage is estimated to be ₹6 (~$0.07)/kWh considering an 8.35% discount and a project life of 12 years, assuming maximum utilization of BESS, i.e., two cycles of 2 hours per day by the utility.

Commission’s Analysis

The Commission noted that since the petitioner has followed due process, it approved the Battery Energy Storage Sale Agreement (BESSA) executed between GUVNL and SECI.

The project will be set up by JSW ReNew Energy Five at Fatehgarh-III Sub-Station in Rajasthan.  The developer has been tasked with procurement of energy storage capacity by GUVNL on behalf of four State DISCOMs.

In May 2024, GERC mandated that the Uttar Gujarat Vij Company, Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation, and the Energy and Petrochemicals Department reimburse the amounts excessively charged to the solar developers.

In June this year, the Commission adopted tariffs of ₹3.42 (~$0.04)/kWh for Alfanar Power’s 50 MW wind power and ₹3.44 (~$0.041)/kWh for Juniper Green’s 90 MW of wind power projects in response to a petition filed by GUVNL.