NLC India Renewables Secures 275 MW/550 MWh BESS Project from GUVNL
NLC India Renewables Limited (NIRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of NLC India Limited, has received a Letter of Intent (LoI) from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) to develop a 275 MW/550 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Gujarat. NIRL secured the project through GUVNL’s tariff-based competitive bidding process for 450 MW/900 […]
NLC India Renewables Limited (NIRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of NLC India Limited, has received a Letter of Intent (LoI) from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) to develop a 275 MW/550 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Gujarat.
NIRL secured the project through GUVNL’s tariff-based competitive bidding process for 450 MW/900 MWh of standalone BESS capacity in Gujarat. The auction, conducted in August 2026 following a tender issued in June, resulted in NIRL securing 275 MW at a tariff of ₹2,31,989 per MW per month.
Under the arrangement, GUVNL will enter into a 12-year Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA) with NIRL. The BESS facility will be made available to GUVNL for charging and discharging on an on-demand basis, supporting the state’s requirements for flexible energy storage.
The project will be connected to Gujarat’s transmission network, with NIRL responsible for establishing the BESS and its interconnection. The system will draw electricity from the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO) network for charging and inject stored power back into the grid based on dispatch instructions issued by the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) in consultation with GUVNL.
The BESS is required to operate at a 0.5 C-rate for both charging and discharging and must support operation in blocks ranging from 50 MW/100 MWh to 100 MW/200 MWh, up to the project’s total contracted capacity.
The project also comes with defined performance and localisation requirements. The BESS developer must maintain at least 95% annual system availability and achieve a minimum 85% AC-to-AC round-trip efficiency on a monthly basis. The Energy Management System (EMS) software must be developed indigenously in India, while refurbished battery cells will not be permitted.
The project is eligible for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support of ₹18 lakh per MWh. Under the VGF framework, at least 20% of the total project cost in BESS procurement must meet local-content requirements, including the indigenously developed EMS software.
The award strengthens NLC India Renewables’ growing presence in the energy storage segment and contributes to Gujarat’s efforts to deploy large-scale storage infrastructure capable of supporting grid flexibility and the integration of renewable power.
