GUVNL Issues 335 MW / 670 MWh BESS Tender in Gujarat For 2-Hr Cycles With VGF

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has issued a tender seeking bids from Battery Energy Storage System Developers (BESSDs) to set up a 335 MW / 670 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Gujarat, with Viability Gap Funding supported through the Power System Development Fund (PSDF) scheme under Phase VIII. The BESS would have a minimum bid size of 130 MWh, i.e., 65 MW × 2 hours.

The Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facility would be made available to GUVNL on an “on-demand” charging and discharging basis. GUVNL has sought online bids until January 22, 2026, and offline bids until January 27, 2026.

The BESSD would make the BESS available for two operational cycles per day, i.e., two charge–discharge cycles daily. When fully charged, the project would be capable of discharging up to its rated capacity during any 15-minute time block, as per the schedule provided by the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC).

The discharge may occur intermittently, i.e., the project may discharge for one or more non-consecutive time blocks, provided that the cumulative discharge duration equals two hours per cycle. The project shall support two such discharge cycles per day. Based on the power rating of 670 MWh, the tender offers a 335 MW × 2-hour BESS, with 335 MW representing the maximum value of active output and input power at the delivery point.

BESS Tender Growth in 2025 

GUVNL has come a long way with its BESS tenders since the onset of 2025. It issued a 500 MW / 1,000 MWh (Phase VI) standalone BESS tender, followed by its 23rd standalone BESS tender and the sixth issued by GUVNL, with one currently in the draft stage for Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES).

GUVNL later awarded a 2 GW / 4 GWh standalone BESS tender in November 2025 at prices ranging from Rs 1.85 lakh to Rs 1.89 lakh per MW per month to nine firms. GUVNL was also the first state utility to launch a tender under the new VGF scheme, offering up to Rs 18 lakh per MWh, with 20% disbursed on financial closure, 50% on commissioning, and 30% after the first year following the commercial operation date (COD).

Scope of Work

Under the scope of work, the bidder would be responsible for setting up the BESS and its interconnection with the State Transmission Network across 20 identified locations in Gujarat. 

The tender offers a technology-agnostic battery storage system, provided it meets the definition of BESS under this tender and the required performance criteria. The BESS would be charged by drawing power from Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO) and would inject power into the GETCO network in accordance with dispatch instructions issued by the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC), in consultation with GUVNL.

In accordance with the Power System Development Fund (PSDF) guidelines notified by the Ministry of Power, Government of India, the BESSD shall ensure a minimum local content of 20% of the total project cost in BESS procurements under the VGF scheme. This minimum local content requirement shall include, inter alia, an indigenously developed Energy Management System (EMS) application software.