Renewable energy project developer and independent power producer (IPP) Hero Future Energies has won a tender to construct grid-scale battery storage in the Indian state of Kerala.
The company announced via Twitter yesterday that it had “emerged as a successful bidder” in Kerala State Electricity Board’s (KSEB’s) tender for 10MW/20MWh of grid-connected battery energy storage systems (BESS).
The tender was launched towards the end of last year, with the board inviting Expressions of Interest (EOI) for 10MW of storage with up to 50MWh capacity. Although the EOI suggested three locations for the assets, to host 5MW, 3MW and 2MW of BESS, two at substation sites and another at a hydropower plant, it was also open to bidders suggesting suitable locations.
Hero Future Energies, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Hero Group, best known for its automotive manufacturing – particularly scooters and bikes – said it must commission the battery storage within 15 months of signing contracts.
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What will perhaps be most interesting for regular readers of Energy-Storage.news about the tender is that KSEB said it was set up in accordance with the example of and guidelines used for a tender for 1,000MWh of energy storage launched by Indian state-owned power company NTPC.
With India’s energy storage market described widely by everyone from industry experts to the country’s government itself as poised for major takeoff, tenders such as NTPC’s and the 500MW/1,000MWh pilot solicitation launched by the government-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) are considered to be exemplars that will continue to inform market development activities.
For Hero Future Energies (HFE), which has a portfolio of more than 1.6GW of renewable energy assets in India and is targeting expansion into international markets, it marks a first foray into the battery storage space.
Experience from this maiden battery project will “enable us to execute similar projects with more states likely to issue storage tenders in the days ahead,” the company said.
With India targeting 500GW of non-fossil fuel energy on its grid, including 450GW of wind and solar PV, by 2030 and already having surpassed the 150GW line, the national Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has modelled a need for 27GW of storage with four-hours’ duration (108GWh) by that time. Industry group India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) said recently that the figure could be more than 160GWh in its VISION 2030 strategy.
“We believe that storage will be integral to the next phase of growth of renewables in India and as such will continue to be a key thrust area for HFE,” the company’s official account tweeted.
Watch our recent webinar with Clean Horizon, with guests from SECI and IESA: “Learn about India’s current and future business models for energy storage,” here.
