New Andhra Pradesh BESS Regulations 2025 to Boost Renewables in the State

The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has issued comprehensive regulations for Battery Energy Storage, called Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (Planning, Procurement, Deployment, and Utilisation of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)) Regulations, 2025.

The regulations came into effect on September 11, 2025, following stakeholder consultations.

Ownership Models and Business Structure

The regulations establish multiple ownership pathways for BESS development. Distribution licensees, transmission licensees, system operators, generating companies, independent power producers, renewable energy developers, independent energy storage service providers, aggregators, and third-party investors are all eligible to develop and own BESS facilities.

BESS deployment can take various forms including co-location with renewable or conventional generators, grid-connected standalone storage, embedded systems in distribution or transmission networks, behind-the-meter consumer-level storage, and integration with electric vehicle charging stations and battery swapping stations. 

The regulations also provide for Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Grid-to-Vehicle (G2V) services through electric vehicle integration.

Technical Specifications and Standards

The regulations mandate a minimum individual project size of 1 MW power rating with at least two hours of energy rating for grid-connected systems at 11 kV or above. 

However, distribution licensees may install BESS at distribution transformer levels to store power from solar rooftop systems locally, exempting them from the minimum capacity requirement.

As per the regulations, all BESS installations must conform to technical standards specified by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC), and Grid Connectivity Standards. BESS providers are required to submit real-time and periodic data to the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) in prescribed formats.

The regulations also establish BESS eligibility to provide multiple ancillary services including frequency regulation (primary, secondary, tertiary), spinning and non-spinning reserves, voltage support, black start services, and demand response services. The framework introduces three categories of ancillary services:

Role of Aggregators

The regulations define Distributed Energy Resources Aggregators (DERA) as entities registered with distribution licensees to provide aggregation services including demand response, distributed generation, and energy storage. 

Aggregators may aggregate BESS resources from multiple sites including co-located storage, grid-connected standalone storage, electric vehicles, EV charging stations with BESS, battery swapping stations, and distributed renewable energy resources with BESS.

Aggregators must assist DISCOMs in promoting distributed generation and storage projects, managing dispatching, metering, settling individual distributed energy resources, disbursing rooftop subsidies, empanelling vendors, and constructing systems.

Procurement and Commercial Framework

All BESS capacity and services procurement by licensees must be undertaken through tariff-based competitive bidding. 

The Commission will determine cost recovery for licensee-owned BESS assets based on prudent investment norms. Market-linked BESS services will be compensated based on market-clearing prices in the ancillary services market or other approved mechanisms.

Importantly, renewable energy used for charging BESS retains its renewable character upon discharge, allowing obligated entities or consumers to claim Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) and Renewable Consumption Obligation (RCO) benefits.

Consumer Participation

The regulations allow all consumers, including those under net-metering arrangements, to establish behind-the-meter BESS with or without solar power plants without requiring permission from DISCOMs or TRANSCO. However, systems must comply with CEA connectivity regulations and inform utilities before commissioning.

Consumers and prosumers with eligible behind-the-meter BESS may participate in ancillary services markets directly or through aggregators while maintaining self-utilization capabilities. 

Policy Framework and Objectives

The regulations stem from Andhra Pradesh's Integrated Clean Energy Policy 2024, which aims to add over 160 GW of renewable energy capacity and approximately 25 GWh of BESS under various deployment modes. 

The policy is expected to position Andhra Pradesh as the preferred destination for clean energy innovative projects and storage capital of the country.

The regulations align with the Ministry of Power's guidelines dated March 11, 2022, and the National Framework for Energy Storage Systems notified in August 2023. The primary objectives include enabling BESS deployment across generation, transmission, and distribution assets while facilitating participation in ancillary services and energy markets.