NEW DELHI : Tata Power Solar will set up India’s first large scale battery storage of 50 megawatt hour (MWh) along with a 50 MW solar plant at Leh, the company said in a statement.
Battery storage systems have been gaining traction in the country. India will call bids for the largest global tender for setting up 13 gigawatt hour (GWh) grid-scale battery storage system in Ladakh as reported by Mint earlier.
“Tata Power’s wholly-owned subsidiary has received a “Notice of Award” (NoA) to build 50MWp Solar PV Plant with 50MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project at Phyang village in Leh, Ladakh. The order value of the project is ÌNR 386 crores. The commercial operation date for this project is set for March 2023,” the statement said.
Such storage system can help store that electricity to supply to the strategic region. Large battery storages can help India’ electricity grids, given the intermittent nature of electricity from clean energy sources such as solar and wind. One GWh (1,000-MWh) of battery capacity is sufficient to power 1 million homes for an hour and around 30,000 electric cars.
“This will be India’s first co-located Large Scale BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) solution as well as first Large Scale Solar PV Project in the Union Territory of Ladakh to be set up at a high altitude of 3600 meters above sea level,” the statement added.
The government has been planning a raft of energy projects in the region to help supply electricity to the people of Leh and Kargil districts, besides defence establishments during harsh winters.
“Tata Power Solar now stands at approximately 4GWp with approx. order value of INR. 12,414 Crores,” the statement said.
There is a growing traction for India’ playbook for developing a battery storage ecosystem, with Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries Ltd recently announcing its plans to set up an Advanced Energy Storage Giga Factory. The government also plans to call bids for setting up 4 GWh of grid-scale battery storage system at the regional load dispatch centres. Also, state run NTPC Ltd has floated a global tender for setting up 1GWh grid-scale battery storage system.
Apart from a proaction capacity of 1.1 GW of solar cells and modules, Tata Power Solar’ generation portfolio includes 7GW of utility scale solar parks and 600 MW of rooftop and distributed generation projects.
Source: livemint.com
