According to firm chairman R.P. Gupta, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is expected to put out a tender for 500 megawatt (MW) of solar thermal capacity by the end of 2024–2025.
This will be the first time a tender of this kind is offered on this magnitude in India. Speaking at an event for India Energy Storage Week here, the SECI chairman said, “The projects under the 500 MW tender will have advanced technology where steam would be generated through heat and it would also help in running turbines.”
“We let the developer come up with his own idea, but we need energy all the time. What kind of energy storage, wind, and solar component does he wish to acquire? Allow them to design it and provide us with energy around-the-clock,” Gupta continued.
The CERC Chairperson, Jishnu Barua, emphasized the waiver of transmission level for charging and discharging, saying, “A lot of new developments have taken place and prices are bound to come down.” Energy storage plays a significant part in improving dependability, stabilizing the system, and maximizing the use of renewable energy. The electric sector in India is currently concentrating on stabilizing electricity availability and access.”
The event’s speakers emphasized how urgently an energy transformation was required to meet the Net Zero target by 2070.
The Central Electricity Authority’s chair, Ghanshyam Prasad, stated: “Regulations are a burden for the grid; it is encountering challenges on the operations side. There have been 47 disruptions affecting 1,000 MW and up to 3,700 MW in the past 14–15 months. In order to prevent grid disruption, we must continue adding RE. In India, at 2-3 p.m. is when peak load occurs during the day. Storage will be crucial in the late hours, therefore we must concentrate on improving the health of the grid during that time.”
The president of the India Energy Storage Alliance, Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, said: “We need to implement new technology and safety measures in a big area. I implore the industry to uphold safety standards. We can’t afford any errors as India moves closer to realizing its ambitious goal of increasing its GWh capacity. We must abandon the low-price approach in order to grow in an environmentally responsible, safe, and profitable manner.”
