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West Bengal Issues Tender for 250 MW/1,000 MWh Standalone Battery Energy Storage Project

The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) has invited bids to develop a 250 MW/1,000 MWh standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) at the Goaltore substation in Paschim Medinipur district. The tender also includes a greenshoe option for an additional 250 MW/1,000 MWh capacity.

Bid Submission and Opening

Developers must submit their bids by November 14, 2025, with the opening scheduled for the same day. The tender requires a document fee of Rs500,000 (Dollars5,632) plus 18% GST, and a processing fee of RS2,500 (Dollars28) plus GST.

An earnest money deposit (EMD) of RS208,000 (Dollars2,343) per MWh plus 18% GST must also be provided.

Performance Security and Contract Terms

Selected bidders are required to furnish a performance bank guarantee (PBG) of Rs520,000 (Dollars 5,857) per MWh at least seven working days before signing the Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA).

The BESPA will remain in force for 15 years from the scheduled commissioning date.

Technical Specifications

The BESS must be integrated with WBSEDCL’s 132 kV network at the Goaltore substation and ensure a monthly AC-to-AC round-trip efficiency of at least 90%.

Developers must use commercially proven and operational technologies to reduce implementation risk and ensure timely commissioning.

The project must be commissioned within 18 months of signing the BESPA.

Requirements

• The system should be capable of providing a minimum of four hours of discharge at rated power.

• WBSEDCL will not require more than one full four-hour discharge cycle per day.

• Charging and discharging can occur either continuously or in multiple sessions.

• Developers can undertake planned maintenance outages with at least one month’s prior notice, limited to 34 hours within any two-month period.

• The maximum recovery time between cycles must not exceed one hour.

Tariff Adjustments and Financial Criteria

If viability gap funding (VGF) becomes available before project operations begin, WBSEDCL may ask developers to reduce the tariff by Rs40,000 (Dollar 450)/MW/month, formalized through a short addendum to the agreement.

Bidders must have:

• A net worth of at least Rs8.32 million (Dollar 93,724)/MW, and

• A minimum annual turnover of Rs5 million (Dollar 56,324)/MWh in the most recent financial year.

Previous BESS Initiatives

In July 2025, the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) invited bids for a 40 MW/80 MWh standalone BESS project in Kolkata, under the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model, signaling West Bengal’s growing push toward grid-scale energy storage solutions.