Gensol Engineering Wins GUVNL Bid to Develop 250 MW BESS in Gujarat

Gensol Engineering has secured the bid in Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam’s (GUVNL) auction to develop pilot projects for 250 MW/500 MWh standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Gujarat, as part of Phase III of tariff-based global competitive bidding.

Gensol emerged victorious by quoting a tariff of INR 372,978/MW/month for the entire capacity, which is 17 percent lower than the INR 448,996/MW/month they quoted in the Phase II auction for a 70 MW/140 MWh BESS project in Gujarat.

The project, to be developed under a build, own, and operate (BOO) model, aims to utilise energy storage systems on an on-demand basis, tailored to the requirements of state distribution companies during peak and off-peak hours. The tender, floated in March, mandates that projects must be completed within 18 months from the effective date of the purchase agreement and specifies a minimum bid size of 140 MWh (70 MWh x 2 hours).

Several participants, including IndiGrid 2, JSW Neo Energy, Pace Digitek Infra, Continental Milkose, ACME Solar Holdings, JBM Renewables, Hinduja Renewables, Vikram Solar, CCleantech, Apraava Energy, Solarcraft Power India 2, and SJVN Green Energy, did not qualify.

The BESS will be charged by drawing power from the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation network, following dispatch instructions issued by the state load dispatch centre. Both the charging and discharging of the system fall under GUVNL's scope.

Gensol is responsible for maintaining the transmission system up to the interconnection point and will bear the entire infrastructure construction cost from the project up to this point. The power rating of the project capacity will be 250 MW (500 MWh, 250 MW x 2 hours), which represents the maximum value of the active output and input power at the delivery point. The system’s energy rating of 500 MWh indicates the dispatchable capacity measured at the metering point.

The tender stipulates that Gensol must guarantee a minimum system availability of 95 percent annually. It also requires that the projects adopt commercially established and operational technologies to minimise technology risks and comply with the codes and standards specified in the guidelines.