A busy week after a quiet one. Between 21 and 25 September the feed carried two battery awards with published capacities, three new calls for bids, three manufacturing moves and a cluster of rule changes. Maharashtra appears in every group. Each item with hard numbers now has its own datasheet brief, linked below, and live procurements sit on our tender tracker.
Awards: nearly 2.3 GWh of two-hour storage changes hands
The biggest story of the week was TrueRE Oriana Power’s 900 MW / 1,800 MWh win in Maharashtra, reported by two outlets. SJVN named the winner of its 265 MW / 530 MWh auction. Both are two-hour systems, the peaking shape most Indian buyers are procuring (see our 2-hour vs 4-hour guide).
- TrueRE Oriana Power wins 900 MW/1,800 MWh BESS projects in Maharashtra — pv magazine India (also ESS News) · read our brief
- SJVN Announces Winner of 265 MW/530 MWh Battery Storage Auction — Mercom India · read our brief
- Pace Digitek arm secures INR 488.46 crore BESS order from NTPC GE Power Services — pv magazine India (no capacity reported)
- Sterling and Wilson secures 534.3 MWp solar in Rajasthan and 616 MWh BESS in South Africa — pv magazine India (the battery is outside India)
Tenders: NTPC re-enters Maharashtra, MSEDCL and Telangana go to market
NTPC’s new 400 MWh Maharashtra call came two days after it terminated a 400 MWh contract at its Mouda plant over contractor default. The headlines do not say the new call replaces the old contract. MSEDCL and Telangana both invited battery bids, but neither headline gives a capacity.
- NTPC Invites Bids for 400 MWh Battery Storage System in Maharashtra — Mercom India · read our brief
- NTPC terminates 400 MWh BESS contract at Mouda thermal power plant over contractor default — pv magazine India
- MSEDCL Invites Bids for Battery Energy Storage Systems — Mercom India
- Telangana Invites Bids for Standalone Battery Storage Projects — Mercom India (Telangana policy note)
Manufacturing: a cell plant goes live, two more gigafactories on paper
Exide’s commissioning is the most concrete item here: it is cell manufacturing, not pack assembly, and it is running. Aare Solar’s Odisha plant has state approval and Solex has announced a plan. Both are still some way from production.
- Exide Commissions Phase I of 6 GWh Lithium-ion Cell Plant — Mercom India · read our brief
- Odisha approves Aare Solar’s 10 GWh LFP BESS assembly plant — pv magazine India · read our brief
- Solex Energy plans 5.2 GW solar cell, 5 GWh BESS capacity by FY29 — pv magazine India · read our brief
Policy: grid charges, charging rules and two Maharashtra mandates
Regulation made up the largest group. CERC’s proposed congestion charges and a rule change on charging and discharging both affect the revenue a grid battery can earn. Maharashtra drafted storage mandates into both its connectivity (GNA) rules and its rooftop-solar banking rules. For background, see our GNA and storage explainer and the national BESS policy overview.
- Daily News Wrap-Up: CERC Proposes Congestion Charges for BESS Projects — Mercom India
- Battery Storage Projects May Gain from Rule Change on Charging, Discharging — Mercom India
- Maharashtra Drafts New GNA Rules With Storage Mandate for Renewable Projects — Mercom India
- Maharashtra Drafts New Banking Rules, Storage Mandate for Rooftop Solar — Mercom India
- WBERC Approves Bidding Terms for 1.5 GW RTC Renewable Power Procurement — Mercom India
- The Real Cost of Energy Storage Systems Goes Beyond Battery Prices — Mercom India (compare our BESS O&M cost guide)
Tender terms and deadlines change by notification. Always check the current bid documents on the issuing organisation’s portal before acting.
Working out what Maharashtra’s new storage mandates mean for your site? Run the numbers through our BESS savings calculator, or talk to our team for a project-specific read.