TN: Powergrid Floats 375 MW/1,500 MWh BESS Tender for 1.5 Charge-Discharge Cycles

POWERGRID has issued a tender for setting up seven projects of 375 MW/1,500 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) with complete 1.5-cycle charging and discharging in Tamil Nadu under the Build, Own and Operate (BOO) model. Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited (TNGECL) is the Bid Process Coordinator (BPC) for the project, with POWERGRID as a key participant. Bids for the project are open until January 28, 2025.

The tender stated that after the completion period, the employer would take over the project upon successful commissioning of the facilities. The project is expected to be completed within 15 months, and after commissioning and takeover of the facilities, the contractor will be responsible for undertaking maintenance of the facilities for 15 years. POWERGRID has received a Letter of Award (LoA) from the BPC, making POWERGRID or its nominated company responsible for setting up the project across seven sites and completing it within 15 months.

Previous Tenders

Last year, in 2025, the state-run Power Grid Corporation of India issued a tender to develop a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), designated as Package BESS-01. The 20 MWh system (5 MW for four hours) is to be co-located with an existing 85 MW solar PV plant at Nagda in Ujjain district, Madhya Pradesh.

Under the scope of work of the erstwhile project, developers were expected to prepare the land and integrate the BESS with existing infrastructure. In that tender, POWERGRID earmarked approximately 1,000 square metres of land for the BESS at the Nagda solar site.

Before that, in November 2025, POWERGRID won a BESS tender in Andhra Pradesh from the Andhra Pradesh Transmission Corporation (APTRANSCO). The company secured a portion of the 1,000 MW/2,000 MWh tender, which involved supplying energy in blocks for two operational cycles per day, or two complete charge-discharge cycles daily.

Other winners included Bondada Engineering, which secured a 225 MW project at the Hindupur substation, and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), which won a 150 MW BESS project at the Kalikiri substation. Both projects were awarded at a tariff of ₹164,000 per MW per month.