The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has approved the tariffs for 500 MW/1000 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

The approved tariffs range from ₹221,000 ($2,561)/MW/month to ₹224,000 ($2,597)/MW/month.

Background

The petition was filed by the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (RRVUNL) seeking approval for adopting the tariffs discovered for the standalone BESS project under a tariff-based global competitive bidding process.

To initiate the project, RRVUNL issued a tender in October 2024. Eleven bidders responded. Following the evaluation, a reverse auction was held, and four companies emerged as successful bidders.

Solarworld Energy Solutions won 125 MW/250 MWh at a tariff of ₹221,000 ($2,561)/MW/month, while Oriana Power bagged 50 MW/100 MWh at ₹222,000 ($2,574)/MW/month. Rays Power Experts won 75 MW/150 MWh at ₹223,000 ($2,586)/MW/month, and JSW Neo Energy got 250 MW/500 MWh at ₹224,000 ($2,597)/MW/month.

Letters of Award were issued in February 2025 to the successful bidders. The petition requested the Commission to formally adopt these tariffs in compliance with Section 63 of the Electricity Act.

Commission’s Analysis

The Commission found that the process complied with government guidelines and that there were no objections from stakeholders regarding transparency.

Regarding market alignment, the Commission compared the tariffs discovered in this tender with those in other recent BESS tenders across India. The tariffs quoted by the four selected bidders were among the lowest in the country for similar 2-cycle-per-day standalone BESS projects. While other tenders had tariffs ranging from ₹219,000 (~$2,536)/MW/month to ₹372,000 (~$4,309)/MW/month, the Rajasthan bids were more competitive.

In terms of benefits to power distribution companies, the Commission acknowledged that the 500 MW BESS would be able to deliver 2 million units of electricity daily. This stored energy, when discharged during peak demand periods, could replace power that would otherwise be purchased from the volatile short-term market.

Even considering the cost of charging the batteries using renewable sources, the levelized cost of stored power remained significantly lower than peak market rates. This would result in daily savings of up to over ₹10 million (~$115,840), depending on market conditions.

Regarding the trading margin, the Commission noted that the ₹0.07 (~$0.00081)/kWh margin charged by RRVUNL appeared high and could burden end consumers. It advised the petitioner to explore ways to reduce this margin in the public interest.

It directed RRVUNL to submit the executed purchase and sale agreements and to maintain transparency by publishing tariff details on its website. It also directed RRUVNL to explore advanced BESS technologies for future projects and submit quarterly progress reports on project implementation.

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