The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has approved tariffs of ₹280,000 (~$3,160.22)/MW/month and ₹285,600 (~$3,223.42)/MW/month for Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam’s (GUVNL) 500 MW/1,000 MWh standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Gujarat.

The BESS projects will be set up at Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO) substations.

Background

The petitioner, GUVNL, issued a tender for 500 MW/1,000 MWh standalone BESS in Gujarat in January 2025. It received 10 bids for a capacity of 2,180 MW/4,360 MWh.

Solarworld Energy Solutions and H.G. Infra Engineering were selected after the e-reverse auction, securing 200 MW/400 MWh at a tariff of ₹280,000 (~$3,288.31)/MW/month and 300 MW/600 MWh at a tariff of ₹285,600 (~$3,345.08)/MW/month, respectively.

The petitioner issued letters of intent to the winning bidders in April 2025, after which it approached GERC to approve the discovered tariffs.

The petitioner submitted that the bidding process was transparent and competitive, and the discovered tariffs were the lowest discovered.

GUVNL filed an affidavit justifying the tariff values compared to the previous similar tenders, which had adopted lower tariffs of approximately ₹226,000 (~$2,550.75)/MW/month, stating that the government had provided support through viability gap funding and project land. The petitioner’s tender did not have these facilities.

The discovered tariffs were lower than those from auctions held by central agencies when adjusted for their subsidies.

The petitioner also contended that an earlier tender, where Gensol Engineering defaulted on signing the battery energy storage purchase agreement (BESPA), demonstrated that overly low tariffs were unsustainable.

GUVNL highlighted that it had taken approval from the Gujarat government for any deviations in the tendering process, as mandated under the Ministry of Power’s guidelines.

Additionally, it submitted that the BESS capacity tendered would help GETCO in operating the transmission grid efficiently and enhance its reliability.

GUVNL also contended that the BESS projects would help it meet its renewable purchase and energy storage obligations.

Commission’s Analysis

The Commission acknowledged that the bidding process was transparent, competitive, and complied with the government’s bidding guidelines. It noted that the discovered tariffs fell within the government’s L1 + 2% bracket.

GERC also observed that the selected bidders did not object to the tariffs and their adoption. Additionally, it acknowledged the petitioner’s obtaining of the state government’s approval for any deviations in the bidding process.

The Commission agreed that the BESS projects would help the petitioner meet its renewable purchase and energy storage obligations.

GERC approved the petitioner’s discovered tariffs and directed it to sign the BESPA with the selected bidders.

In October this year, GERC rejected a petition by a solar power developer seeking to extend the commissioning deadline for its 3.94 MW ground-mounted systems.

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