Bid floated for 3 MW battery storage system

CHENNAI: Ahead of floating bids for its ambitious solar park project, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation has invited tenders for a pilot project of a one-megawatt ground-mounted solar and three MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Virudhunagar district.

Though TN has installed solar capacity of 6039 MW including rooftop, the proposed 1 MW solar plant at Kariyapatti substation in Virudhunagar would be the first MW scale solar plant to be set up by Tangedco on its own. The BESS is at the early stage of development in the country with the first such project established only in 2019 in New Delhi.

A senior Tangedco official said they had floated a retender for the pilot project as the tender invited early last year failed to get a response. “Since it’s a pilot project, we wanted to award the contract and execute the works soon,” the official said. “Though the megawatt-scale solar project would be the first for the utility, the pilot project is mainly for the BESS.”

Tangedco has an ambitious plan to set up 20,000 MW ground-mounted solar plants across the State and 10,000 MW BESS by 2030. In the first phase, Tangedco would be establishing a 4,000 MW of solar plant and 2,000 MW of BESS.

A solar energy generator in the State said that BESS devices enable energy from renewables (solar and wind) to be stored and then released when customers need power most.

“Lithium-ion batteries, used in mobile phones and electric cars, are the dominant storage technology for large-scale plants to help electricity grids ensure a reliable supply of renewable energy,” he said. “Such storage system offers grid managers the option to make use of solar energy generated in daytime to be used during evening peak hours avoiding high-cost power purchase.”