Govt To Soon Invite Bids For Building 10 GW Battery Storage Projects

The union government will “soon” float tenders for setting up 10 gigawatts (GWs) of battery energy storage projects.

Vijay Mittal, joint secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), said that the new projects will strengthen India’s position in the energy storage segment, news agency PTI reported.

“The ministry (MHI) will soon come out with a 10 GW RFP (request for proposal) for those who are working on the energy storage part of it for grid-scale energy storage systems… so that we have… indigenous capability for manufacturing of battery energy storage system(s) compatible with advanced chemistry cells,” Mittal was quoted as saying. 

Mittal also said that the Centre has set aside over 40 gigawatt-hours (GWh) out of 50 GWh for various original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for indigenous manufacturing of advanced chemistry cells (ACCs) under the government’s production-linked-incentive (PLI) scheme.

Simply put, ACCs are used in electric vehicles (EVs) and can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy.

According to Livemint, the new RFP will be formulated in association with the ministry of new and renewable energy and NITI Aayog. Mittal also reportedly added that a large chunk of India’s energy storage requirement, which may be in the range of 110-150GWh, will be manufactured domestically by 2030.

Noting that the ministry is leading the mission of indigenous manufacturing of chemistry cells in the country, Mittal, as per PTI, said that the country has set its eyes on reducing the need for imports of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to address environmental concerns.

It is pertinent to note that the Centre approved the PLI scheme for manufacturing ACC batteries in May 2021 to give a major impetus to the homegrown electric mobility sector and battery storage ecosystem. With an outlay of INR 18,100 Cr, the PLI scheme aims to achieve manufacturing capacity of 50 GWh of ACC and 5 GWh of “niche” ACC.

The scheme will look to enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities by setting up giga scale ACC manufacturing facilities in India with emphasis on maximum domestic value addition. 

Notably, last month, MHI selected Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) as the successful bidder under the PLI scheme for 10 GWh ACC manufacturing unit. Under the scheme, the conglomerate will  be eligible for the maximum budgetary outlay off INR 3,620 Cr.

The first round of bidding, in March 2022, for the PLI scheme saw three companies – Reliance New Energy Limited, Ola Electric, and Rajesh Exports Limited win grants for 10 GWh each.

It is pertinent to note that Ola Electric has already completed the initial phase of setting up its gigafactory, “Futurefactory”, in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri. The EV major claims that the unit will have an overall production capacity of up to 20 GWh.

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