NTPC Green Energy Limited (NGEL), a subsidiary of NTPC Limited, has emerged as a successful bidder in an e-reverse auction conducted by the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) for standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects in West Bengal. NGEL has secured 200 MW/800 MWh of BESS capacity at a discovered tariff of ₹4.35 lakh per MW per month.
The auction was conducted as part of WBSEDCL’s tender for a total 500 MW/2,000 MWh of standalone BESS capacity through a Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) process. The e-reverse auction was concluded on August 7, 2026, with NGEL securing a portion of the overall capacity.
Under the tender conditions, the selected BESS developer will develop the project on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis and connect the storage facility with WBSEDCL’s distribution network. The system will be made available to WBSEDCL for charging and discharging based on its requirements. The tender specifies that the storage facility will primarily support morning and evening peak-demand periods, with single-cycle charging and discharging.
Technical and Operational Requirements
The official Request for Selection (RfS) specifies several performance requirements for the BESS. The system must be designed to provide a minimum of four hours of discharge at rated power and be available for one complete charge-discharge cycle per day. WBSEDCL will have the flexibility to schedule charging and discharging either in a single session or across multiple sessions, depending on its requirements.
The developer must also guarantee minimum monthly system availability of 95% and an AC-to-AC round-trip efficiency of 85%. The tender includes provisions for liquidated damages if the required availability or efficiency levels are not achieved. The BESS is also required to maintain specified minimum dispatchable capacity as its capacity degrades over the operating period, with the requirement reaching 70% of the beginning-of-life capacity from Year 12 through Year 15.
For a 200 MW/800 MWh configuration, the tender provides an example based on the guaranteed 85% round-trip efficiency: WBSEDCL would supply approximately 941.17 MWh for charging to enable the BESS to deliver 800 MWh according to the scheduled discharge.
The BESS developer will also be responsible for establishing and maintaining the interconnection infrastructure up to the delivery point, while WBSEDCL will control the scheduling of charging and discharging. The project must comply with applicable CEA, WBERC and grid connectivity requirements, with continuous metering of energy drawn and injected.
The project comes after WBSEDCL annulled an earlier 250 MW/1,000 MWh BESS tender that had been awarded to a subsidiary of Power Mech Projects. According to the reported details, the earlier tender was annulled because of administrative and procedural circumstances beyond the control of the parties involved. The cancellation was not attributed to any default or non-compliance by the bidder, and the bid security and performance bank guarantee were released without deductions or forfeiture.
The latest award adds to a series of BESS developments in West Bengal. Separately, the 40 MW/80 MWh BESS project in Kolkata, tendered by CESC, was awarded to ABCI Infrastructure. The project is planned at the New Cossipore Generating Station and is being developed under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model.
For NGEL, the WBSEDCL award further expands its involvement in the country’s growing energy-storage segment. The West Bengal award represents another major utility-scale storage project secured by the NTPC group.
References
- Official WBSEDCL 500 MW/2,000 MWh BESS Request for Selection (RfS)
- PV Magazine India – NTPC Green Energy wins 200 MW/800 MWh battery storage project in West Bengal
- Saur Energy – NTPC Green Energy Wins 200 MW/800 MWh BESS Project in WBSEDCL’s Tender
- SolarQuarter – NTPC Green Energy Wins 200 MW/800 MWh BESS Project in West Bengal
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