Govt to float 4,000 MWh battery storage tenders: R K Singh

The government will float tenders for sourcing 4000 MWh battery storage, power and renewable energy minister R K Singh said on Thursday.

“We are working on storage. We intend to come out with bids for 4,000 MWh of storage as ancillary so at four RLDCs (regional load dispatch centres) we will have 1000 MWh of storage (each) that will act as instant intervention mechanism wherever and whenever there is any sharp fluctuation because of renewables. Part of it will work as ancillary to the grid controller and part will be made available to the developers for use on a commercial basis,” Singh said at CII AatmaNirbhar Bharat Conference on Self Reliance in Renewable Energy Manufacturing.

He added the discoms or the industry will be able park energy in the storage systems during midday or when the wind is heavy and draw from it during peak hours.

“We will be adding more storage. We already have a PLI scheme. We want that capacity to be based on manufacturing in India. We do not want to export jobs to China or any other country,” he said

Singh said after the PLI mechanism was announced, expressions of interest for large quantities of manufacturing of modules, cells and polysilicon have been received. “In polysilicon, we already have Coal India in partnership with one firm. Similarly we have Reliance (Industries). Other companies are also going to set up manufacturing,” he said.

Singh said a portion of the tenders will be reserved for future or cutting edge technologies.