Expressions of Interest (EOI) have been invited for so-called ‘round-the-clock’ (RTC) renewable energy projects backed with energy storage in India by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN).
NVVN is a subsidiary of the Indian government-owned power generation company NTPC, set up in 2002 as a licensed power trading entity.
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In a notice issued today, NVVN said it wants to solicit proposals for renewable energy and RTC renewable energy projects supplying power from solar PV, wind, hydroelectric and pumped hydro energy storage, as well as projects combining renewable energy with battery energy storage system (BESS) technology, and hybrid power plants combining multiple renewable technologies.
NVVN will use EOI responses to determine the potential specifications and parameters for procurement of renewable and RTC renewable energy on a “medium to long-term basis”, and for the power trading company to collect information about possible suppliers.
Experienced project developers should apply. Developers will be eligible if they have already delivered a commercially operating renewable energy power plant, or renewable-plus-storage project, or have projects expected to be in operation before the end of 2023.
Project developers’ proposals must be able to provide minimum 10MW renewable energy output to NVVN. Submissions must be in by 20 September and the full EOI document can be seen here.
Meanwhile, parent company NTPC is currently tendering for 500MWh of battery storage. The company is one of India’s biggest power generators, operating 65GW across a portfolio of gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy assets. It plans to double its generation capacity by 2032, including 60GW of renewables and said last year that it wants to deploy 1,000MWh of energy storage at some of its power plant sites, which will mainly perform ancillary services.
NVVN is also responsible for deploying 1,000MW of solar PV at NTPC’s coal power plant sites, with the power produced from both sets of generation sources to be sold in bulk, under India’s National Solar Mission objectives.
India’s first RTC tender was held by the national Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in 2019, for 400MW. Tariffs were awarded at a bid price of ₹2.9/kWh (US$0.036/kWh) for the first year of delivery, escalating 3% each year after that for the first 15 years of a power purchase agreement (PPA).
As reported by our sister site PV Tech in August 2021, the winner of that tender, ReNew Power, intends to leverage at least 700MW of wind power and 400MW of solar PV combined with battery energy storage in a project with an expected cost of US$1.2 billion.
ReNew Power recently secured US$1 billion of that cost, reaching agreement on a project finance loan with 12 lenders in what the company claimed was the biggest single-project clean energy financing deal to date in India.
On a much smaller scale, India now has its first-ever 24/7 solar-powered town, Modhera, in Gujarat. The town, which has around 1,400 inhabitants, is powered with a 6MW solar PV plant, 6MW/15MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) and distributed rooftop solar, as well as being equipped with electric vehicle (EV) chargers. That project was completed in August 2021.
