SECI Seeks Developers for On-Demand 1,000 MW/8,000 MWh Pumped Storage Project

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a 1,000 MW/8,000 MWh pumped storage project (PSP-I) tender under the Build, Own, Operate (BOO) model, with an eight-hour (1,000 MW × 8 hours) storage capacity. SECI has sought bids for the project until February 9, 2026.

Through this tender, SECI requires the Pumped Storage Plant Developer (PSPD) to make the energy storage facility available to the Buying Entities for charging and discharging of the PSP on an “on-demand” basis. The tender requires bidders, including their parent, affiliate, ultimate parent, or any group company, to submit a minimum project capacity of 100 MW/800 MWh and a maximum of 1,000 MW/8,000 MWh. It also allows the projects to be located at sites chosen by the bidder and the PSPD, at their own discretion and at their own cost, risk, and responsibility.

This tender supports the government’s efforts to expand pumped storage projects (PSPs), as the Ministry of Power (MoP) has earlier informed at a committee meeting that India has identified about 224 GW of pumped storage potential. 10 projects totalling around 7 GW have been commissioned, another 10 projects with a combined capacity of about 12 GW are under construction, and 56 projects totalling roughly 78 GW are at various stages of planning and development. Additionally, all eight units of the 1,680 MW Pinnapuram Pumped Storage Project (PSP), along with the 500 MW Tehri PSP, are expected to be commissioned during 2025–26.

Scope of Work

SECI also requires the bidder to declare the Monthly Cycle Loss (MCL) for the project at the time of bid submission, which is expected to be less than 25%. The tender further requires bidders to declare the Declared Cycle Loss (%) (DCL), which constitutes the performance benchmark for the PSPD for the entire duration of the project. The Declared Cycle Loss, once submitted, will remain fixed and shall not be subject to modification for the entire term of the PPA.

For a contracted capacity of 250 MW, under the PPA, the offtaker is entitled to schedule the discharge of up to 2,000 MWh of energy from the PSP in each cycle. The Buying Entity will schedule charging of the PSP with an equal amount of energy plus the energy expected to be lost as conversion losses, as determined from the DCL of the system quoted by the bidder.

The tender also clarified that for a contracted capacity of 250 MW/2,000 MWh, assuming a cycle loss of 15%, the Buying Entity or SECI would supply charging power of 2,353 MWh to achieve a discharge of 2,000 MWh as per the desired schedule.

Annual Availability

The PSPD shall make the PSP available for a maximum of two operational cycles per day, i.e., two complete charge-discharge cycles per day. The PSPD would also be required to give a minimum system availability of 90% on an annual basis.

The PSPD would also be required to pay a penalty for any such shortfall to SECI, enabling SECI to remit the amount to the Buying Entity(ies) under the PPA. The amount of such penalty would be 1.5 times the Monthly Capacity Charges (INR/MW/month) for the capacity not made available in a particular contract year.