Power Grid Corporation of India (POWERGRID) has invited bids to select a consortium partner to set up 1,000 MW/2,000 MWh of standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) across seven substations in Andhra Pradesh.

Bids must be submitted by November 27, 2025. Bids will be opened on the same day.

This tender is a pre-bid tie-up up and its award is contingent on POWERGRID winning the upstream tender floated by Andhra Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation (APTRANSCO).

POWERGRID intends to participate in APTRANSCO’s tender for selecting a BESS developer. The tender clarifies that the lowest evaluated bidder will be selected to participate in bidding with POWERGRID, and the execution contract for this package will be issued to that bidder only if POWERGRID secures the tender.

A special conflict-of-interest condition is also included. If a firm is selected under this POWERGRID tender, it cannot participate, directly or indirectly, in APTRANSCO’s main tender for the same project. Indirect participation includes bidding through subsidiaries, consortiums, affiliates, partners, or any related entity.

The scope of work involves setting up the BESS, including the battery system, power conversion system and transformers, and interconnection with the 33 kV bus developed by APTRANSCO.

The work must be completed within 15 months of the letter of award. The developers must also oversee the BESS’s comprehensive maintenance for 12 years.

Bidders must have supplied, erected, tested, and commissioned grid-connected BESS of 10 MWh, one solar or wind project of 50 MW or more, or two air-insulated switchgear circuit breaker-equipped bays of 132 kV or above voltage level in one substation or switchyard as a prime contractor in India during the last seven years.

Battery manufacturers can qualify if they have supplied at least 50 MWh of batteries of the same technology they are offering in this tender for stationary grid applications within the last three years.

Bidders must have a positive net worth in each of the last three financial years. They must also meet a minimum average annual turnover of at least ₹7.16 billion (~$80.35 million) over the best three of the last five years, calculated from core operating revenue.

India’s cumulative installed energy storage capacity reached 490 MWh by the end of June 2025, according to Mercom India Research’s India’s Energy Storage Landscape 1H 2025 Report.