West Bengal is an interesting case: it does not yet have a standalone, dedicated battery-storage policy the way some states are drafting one, but storage has quietly moved to the centre of how the state plans its grid. Two things are happening at once. The state has long relied on very large pumped hydro for storage, and it is now adding battery energy storage systems (BESS) through fresh tenders run by its distribution utility. This piece explains both layers in plain terms, and is honest about what is still early-stage.
Who runs power in West Bengal
Three names matter. WBSEDCL — the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited — is the state DISCOM (distribution company) that buys and delivers most of the state’s power, and it is the body actually procuring storage. WBSETCL is the state transmission company that runs the high-voltage grid. And WBERC — the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission — is the regulator that sets tariffs and approves the rules, including renewable-purchase obligations. There is no separate “West Bengal BESS policy” document yet; storage is being driven mainly through WBSEDCL’s procurement and the state’s internal resource-adequacy planning. For the national backdrop that shapes all of this, see our guide to India”s BESS policy.
The pumped-hydro backbone
Long before batteries, West Bengal built storage out of water. The Purulia Pumped Storage Project is a 900 MW facility already in operation, and WBSEDCL is developing the Turga Pumped Storage Project — a roughly 1,000 MW closed-loop scheme in the Ayodhya hills of Purulia district, built with Japanese financial assistance and targeted for commissioning around 2028. Pumped hydro and batteries do a similar job — store cheap off-peak energy and release it at peak — so West Bengal’s storage story is a mix of the two, not batteries alone.
The new BESS tenders
The batteries are recent. WBSEDCL has run standalone-BESS tenders under tariff-based competitive bidding, where a developer builds, owns and operates the battery (a build-own-operate model) and is paid to keep it available to the grid.
The main rounds so far:
- 250 MW / 1,000 MWh at Goaltore — WBSEDCL issued a Request for Selection dated 10 October 2025 for a four-hour standalone BESS at the Goaltore substation in Paschim Midnapore, with a greenshoe option to double it to 500 MW / 2,000 MWh. It uses a build-own-operate model, a 15-year storage agreement, and split into two 125 MW units. Notably, this tender had a bumpy start: an award to PM Green (a Power Mech subsidiary) issued in January 2026 was withdrawn in March 2026, with WBSEDCL citing “administrative and procedural exigencies” rather than any bidder default.
- 500 MW / 2,000 MWh across four substations — a larger round, floated on behalf of WBSEDCL with bids due in April 2026, again four-hour batteries, minimum 100 MW / 400 MWh per site, a 95 percent monthly availability requirement, and an 18-month commissioning window.
These are procured as batteries the DISCOM can call on to firm up supply and shave peaks — the same job explained in our note on renewable firming. For a running view of what is open nationally, our tender tracker follows the auctions state by state.
Where the policy angle sits
On the regulatory side, WBERC has set renewable-purchase obligations and has begun allowing storage in newer rules — for example, permitting batteries alongside grid-connected rooftop solar in its 2024 prosumer regulations. What West Bengal has not yet published is a dedicated storage policy with its own targets, incentives or a formal Energy Storage Obligation (ESO) carve-out. Nationally the ESO — which pushes DISCOMs to route a rising share of power through storage — is the bigger driver, and we cover it in our Energy Storage Obligation guide. West Bengal’s internal resource-adequacy planning is what points to roughly 1,590 MW of BESS by 2030, rising further by the mid-2030s, split with pumped storage.
What this means for you
If you are a developer, West Bengal is an emerging market rather than a mature one: real tenders are now live, but the process is still finding its feet, as the cancelled Goaltore award shows. Watch WBSEDCL and the state Department of Power’s procurement pages closely, and read the live Request for Selection before you model anything. If you are a DISCOM or industrial buyer in the east, the four-hour standalone BESS blocks these tenders call for are exactly the format we build and integrate at Alpha Devraj ESS.
One honest caveat: West Bengal’s dedicated BESS procurement is genuinely early-stage, and some specifics — tariffs discovered, whether central Viability Gap Funding is layered on, and the final policy shape — are not yet settled, so verify the current terms before committing. To size a project against these tenders or talk through a specific round, get in touch with our team.
Policy snapshot as of July 2026. Terms change by notification; verify current provisions before financial decisions.