Tata Power-DDL Powers up India’s 1st Grid-Tied Community Energy Storage System

Tata Power-DDL has launched India’s first Grid-Connected Community Energy Storage System (CESS) in Rani Bagh, New Delhi.

Tata Power-DDL, a leading Power Distribution utility supplying electricity to a populace of 7 million in North Delhi has announced that it has, in collaboration with Nexcharge, a joint venture between Exide India and Leclanché, launched India’s First Grid-Connected Community Energy Storage System (CESS) in Rani Bagh, New Delhi.

The installation of the 150KW/528KWH CESS at Ranibagh Substation will improve the supply reliability at the distribution level that is mainly at load centre to mitigate peak load on Distribution Transformers. Dense population with vertical load growth and space constraints to put additional transformers are the key reasons behind the selection of Rani Bagh as the location for the installation. The setup will help in providing continuous and reliable power to key consumers during exigency.

The Battery Energy Storage System was inaugurated by Satyendar Jain, Power Minister, Govt. of NCT of Delhi in the presence of Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, Tata Power-DDL and Stefan Loius, Chief Executive Officer, Nexcharge amongst other senior officials of Tata Power-DDL, Exide India and Nexcharge.

Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, Tata Power-DDL while talking about the storage project said “this will further strengthen our network and ensure reliable and quality power supply to our consumers at all times. Instead of building a humungous infrastructure of transformers and electric equipment, CESS can be used to meet peak demand while storing surplus power. I believe wider adoption of such storage systems will help in balancing the load curve of discoms and make them future-ready.”

The key feature of CESS is to support the Distribution Transformers in managing the peak load, voltage regulation, power factor improvement, frequency regulation and deviation settlement mechanism. Also, the system has black start feature, because of which during an outage of distribution transformers or during supply fail condition, the battery is connected to the privileged bus and can provide 150KW for 4 hours duration to consumers providing critical services like hospitals, commercial complexes, Delhi Jal Board, etc. Apart from the essential consumers, this system serves the population to the tune of hundreds of consumers residing in the area.

The battery energy storage system will charge during the off-peak hours and discharge the power during peak condition, which TP-DDL expects will enhance the life of the asset, prevent the interruption on account of overload and capex deferral in putting additional support for placing distribution transformers only to meet peak-load.

Speaking about the initiative, Stefan Louis, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Technology Officer, Nexcharge said, “Battery-based energy storage (BESS) provides the agility to better integrate intermittent solar and wind energy resources into India’s electric grid and ensure high-quality power for consumers. A Community Energy Storage System like this will ensure consumers get to experience better levels of stability, reliability, quality, and control. Both customers and distributors will benefit from this service. We are very happy to partner with Tata Power-DDL to set up this new 0.52 MWh grid-connected system which will pave a new path for wider adoption of grid-scale energy storage technology across India. It’s another step towards all Indians accessing smart sources of energy.”

Battery-based energy storage enables electricity to be stored and then delivered within milliseconds, reducing instability of the electric grid and enabling more energy to be captured and delivered on-demand.

Talking about the multi-MNC joint venture to create Nexcharge, Gautam Chatterjee, Chief Executive Officer, Exide Industries Limited said, “we have long endeavoured to develop alternate state-of-the-art technologies such as lithium-ion batteries and energy storage solutions as an important step in tackling the impact of climate change on the environment. Leclanché SA has proven to be an apt partner in this cause bringing superior technology, modules, and battery management systems, as well as immediate access to engineering resources to build market-ready products and solutions.”

India has the ambitious vision of installing 175 GW of renewable energy generation by 2022. The storage system provides the flexibility and agility to better integrate intermittent solar and wind energy resources into India’s electric grid and ensure high-quality power for consumers and, is in consonance with India’s ambitious vision of installing 175 GW of renewable energy generation by 2022.