ACME Solar Holdings Ltd has entered the battery energy storage system (BESS) space by winning its first project, located in Andhra Pradesh.
In a release, ACME Solar said that it has emerged as the winning bidder for NHPC’s tender for cumulative capacity of 275 MW/550 MWh standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Andhra Pradesh, across two locations – Kuppam and Ghani.
For the Kuppam project, ACME Solar’s tariff was Rs.2.10 lakh per MW per month with capacity of 50 MW/100 MWh. The winning bid for the Ghani project was Rs.2.22 lakh per MW per month for 225 MW/450 MWh.
The project requires system availability for two full operational cycles of two hours each, every day. As part of the project, ACME Solar will receive viability gap funding (VGF) of Rs.27 per MWh or 30 per cent of the capital cost, whichever is lower.
The auction was part of a tender issued by NHPC in February 2025 to enhance storage capacity in Andhra Pradesh, the ACME Solar release said, adding that this milestone further diversifies ACME Solar’s portfolio to include standalone BESS to the existing solar, wind, FDRE and hybrid RE projects.
According to Rahula Kashyapa, Chief Commercial Officer, ACME Solar Holdings, “This milestone reflects ACME Solar’s commitment to pioneering innovative clean energy solutions that strengthen India’s grid reliability and accelerate the nation’s renewable energy transition.”
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Editor’s Note: It is learnt from independent sources that NHPC’s tender discussed in this story was for setting up BESS for a total of 500 MW/1,000 MWh. Apart from ACME Solar winning 275 MW/500 MWh, Patel Infrastructure was awarded 225 MW/450 MWh at a tariff of Rs.2.08 lakh per MW per month, to be set up at the 400kV Jammalamadugu substation.