NHPC Awards 125 MW/500 MWh BESS Tender With VGF to NTPC, Opera, Tata Power in Kerala

NHPC has awarded its 125 MW/500 MWh standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) tender in Kerala (Tranche-I) to NTPC Green Energy, Opera Energy, and Tata Power Renewable Energy (TPREL). 

The NHPC project, tendered in January 2025, is connected to the intrastate transmission system in Kerala under the first tranche of NHPC’s BESS rollout. The capacity for this project was awarded in phases. NHPC initially awarded bids to Opera and NTPC in May, while Tata Power later announced it had secured its first standalone BESS project in the state.

According to the final results, NTPC Green Energy secured two separate projects—40 MW/160 MWh at the Sreekantapuram substation at a tariff of ₹434,000 per MW per month, and another 40 MW/160 MWh at the Pothencode substation at ₹457,000 (~$5,215.70) per MW per month.

According to the tender results, "Opera Energy was awarded 15 MW/60 MWh at the Mulleria substation, quoting ₹438,000/MW/month. Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) secured a 30 MW/120 MWh project at ₹438,000 per MW per month. The company had earlier announced its entry into the standalone BESS space with this project, awarded under a 12-year Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA), and plans to commission the system within 15 months."

Additionally, based on earlier announcements, TPREL already operates a 100 MW solar + 120 MWh BESS hybrid project in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, developed under an EPC contract with SECI. The NHPC award marks its foray into standalone battery storage, reinforcing its position as a provider of dispatchable and sustainable energy solutions.

Past BESS Tenders With 4 hrs Duration

Here are some previous solar plus BESS tenders that offered  4-hour durations of energy at varied tariff rates. 

In 2024, NTPC Renewable Energy, Sembcorp Green Infra, Solarcraft Power India 8, and Hero Solar Energy won bids at ₹3.52/kWh from SECI's Solar+Storage tender. The 2 GW solar plus 4 GWh BESS tender awarded 500 MW to NTPC, while Hero secured 270 MW, with the remaining developers receiving 150 MW allotments each.

Similarly, earlier this year, SJVN awarded a 1.2 GW solar-plus-storage tender to six developers, including Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance NU Energies, Sembcorp Industries Ltd, Jindal India Renewable Energy, JBM Group, SAEL Ltd, and Fastnote Biofuels (Hindustan Power). 

Through this tender, SJVN offered power during peak hours—4 hours daily (windows: 00:00–08:00 hrs and 17:00–00:00 hrs), with a minimum of 1 hour of continuous discharge.

The Build, Own, Operate (BOO) project offered the tariffs, which represent a 6% drop from the previous record of ₹3.52/kWh for solar-plus-storage with four-hour BESS, recorded in September 2023. In that tender, SJVN also offered peak hours for 4 hours daily (windows: 00:00–08:00 hrs and 17:00–00:00 hrs), with a minimum of 1 hour of continuous discharge.