SWREL To Give Thrust To Solar+BESS & Hybrid Wind Projects

Renewable energy EPC company, Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy Limited (SWREL), is now planning to give a fresh thrust to new solar plus battery energy storage system (BESS) projects and hybrid wind projects. The top management of the firm, in its latest investor call, talked about the reason behind its focus on such projects.

CK Thakur, the Global CEO of SWREL, attributed this to the dwindling costs of energy storage and the favorable bid pipeline of the Indian government, besides the ambitious BESS targets of the country. The firm is even focusing on BESS projects for international clients in Europe and South Africa.

Why BESS & Hybrid Projects

“Over and above the solar EPC pipeline, we will continue to target BESS projects and select hybrid wind EPC projects as well. Our international pipeline also appears very promising, and we have been focusing on select PV and BESS projects in Africa and Europe,” Thakur told investors.

In Q1, the company said that it commissioned 1 GW of renewable projects with the commissioning of its projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan, despite delays owing to the India-Pakistan border conflicts. The firm is now sitting with an unexecuted order book of Rs 8,348 crore as of June 2025. It has around 88% of its orders from the domestic market, while the rest are its international orders, mainly from Europe and South Africa.

Favorable Conditions for BESS

Thakur has reasons to cite why BESS has become more significant for the firm and for the country. “Encouragingly, the cost of battery storage has come down dramatically from INR 10 lakh to around INR 2.5 lakh per megawatt per month, making it more viable than ever before. Despite the progress, India's installed BESS capacity remains modest at just 205 megawatt. However, a significant pipeline is building up — 3.3 gigawatts of projects are already lined up and another 12.5 gigawatt is currently under various stages of the tendering process,” Thakur said.

The country has a target of 74 GW of BESS capacity by 2031–32. “On the international EPC side, we are increasingly seeing attractive opportunities opening up primarily in Africa and Europe. We are also seeing a good number of European BESS projects to complement the renewable spurt seen in the market. Our current progress in ongoing projects has also been very positive,” he said.