The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is moving ahead with plans to set up a battery energy storage system (BESS) at Mylatti, Kasaragod, with the increase in renewable energy generation signalling the need for storage capabilities.
With the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) acting as a BESS implementation agency, the State power utility plans to establish a 125 megawatt (MW)/500 megawatt hour (MWh) BESS at its Mylatti substation.
In November 2024, Kerala had received Central approval for a viability gap funding of ₹135 crore for establishing a BESS project having 500 MWh capacity. BESS capacity is commonly specified using MW, which denotes power capacity (the maximum power a BESS can deliver at any given moment), and MWh, which indicates energy capacity (the total volume of energy that it can store or deliver over time).
The SECI, a ‘Navratna’ enterprise designated as one of the Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies in the country, will select the developers for setting up the Kerala project. The SECI will enter into a Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA) with the successful bidder for providing the energy storage facility to the KSEB.
The KSEB is eyeing both pumped hydro storage projects (PSP) and BESS for addressing the challenge of storing the excess renewable energy produced during the daytime from solar and other sources and using it when the demand peaks.
The KSEB issued formal orders on January 28 for proceeding with the BESS project at Mylatty with the SECI as the implementing agency.
“In view of large amount of variable renewable energy based generation likely to be integrated in the grid in the future, energy storage technology is found to be useful in maintaining grid stability and reliability by storing excess generation over different time horizons (minutes, days, weeks) and meeting the peak demand which is not coincidental with the peak renewable energy generation,” the Central Electricity Authority has noted in its Report on Optimal General Mix 2030 (Version 2.0) released in April 2023.
