Battery Storage Warms Up with NTPC 1 GWh Tender For EOI

National power generator NTPC continues to move aggressively on its pivot to renewable energy and more flexible power. In a tender it released on June 26, the state owned power major has invitee expression of interest (EOI) for setting up 1000 MWh of grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) at its power plants in India.

EOI’s typically take a much longer time to move from plans to ground, but the move by NTPC makes it clear that the power firm is preparing in a big way for the future. The document also makes it clear that the tender is for a better understanding of the commercial aspects of the prospective capacity being planned. After receiving bids, the firm will issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for undertaking projects across multiple NTPC plants and scalable models.

The tender is completely open, allowing domestic, global or firms in a consortium to bid for the opportunity.

NTPC, at the end of its Q4 results this month, announced a dramatic scaling up of its renewable capacity target to 60 GW from the earlier 30 GW by 2032. It’s a period during which Reliance Industries has also announced a massive Rs 75,000 crore investment plan for the clean energy sector, focused mainly on the manufacturing side of things. From Solar equipment to battery storage and more.

There is every possibility that pressure will continue to keep mounting on major energy consumers like China and India to move away faster from their dependence on thermal energy, and NTPC, as the largest thermal powr producer by a margin, is probably aware of that. It will also prepare for a future by 2025-26 where it’s plants will need to run more flexibly, as renewable energy share in the grid goes up.

In that context, planning battery storage at key plants makes sense now.

Last date for submission of EoI is August 10, 2021. The EoI response will be opened the next day.