SCCL’s first BESS project delivers encouraging results in Telangana

SCCL's first Battery Energy Storage System in Telangana has delivered encouraging results, helping store surplus solar power and generate savings of Rs. 25.66 lakh. The project has improved energy utilisation and may pave the way for more renewable energy initiatives.

Peddapalli: The Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), established for the first time in the State at Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), is yielding encouraging results. This system enables surplus solar power generated during the daytime to be stored in batteries instead of being supplied to the grid, allowing its use whenever required and generating financial benefits for Singareni.

In January this year, a 1 MW BESS was established as an auxiliary facility to the 28 MW Singareni Solar Plant in the Mandamarri Area at a cost of Rs. 2.5 crore. Singareni has already established solar plants with a total capacity of 245.5 MW at eight different locations. Of these, plants with a capacity of 147 MW have been categorised as Open Access Plants, while the remaining plants with a capacity of 98.50 MW have been categorised as In-House Plants and connected to the Telangana power grid.

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Although electricity generated from these in-house plants is also connected to the Telangana power grid, according to the power purchase agreement, only the electricity consumed for local requirements is utilised, while Telangana DISCOM does not make any payment for the surplus electricity generated. Therefore, the excess electricity has to be supplied to the grid free of cost. In this manner, thousands of surplus units generated daily from the in-house plants were being supplied to the grid without any financial benefit.

With the objective of deriving value from this surplus power, Singareni experimentally established a 1 MW BESS unit at the Mandamarri plant, the first such initiative in the State. The 28 MW solar plant at Mandamarri has been functioning efficiently and supplying electricity required for the mines and colonies in the Mandamarri and Srirampur Areas. However, even after meeting local power requirements, some electricity still remained surplus. In this context, Singareni established the BESS in January this year.

Since then, the BESS unit has been utilised for local requirements, while the remaining 3,35,485 units of electricity have been stored and used whenever required. As a result, Singareni has achieved financial savings of Rs. 25,66,460. It is noteworthy that a BESS unit with a capacity of just 1 MW could save such a substantial amount of electricity and generate significant financial benefits.

The Singareni management expressed happiness over the success of the BESS project, which was established experimentally under the directions of the State government. The management further stated that, in line with the government’s objective of promoting renewable energy resources, Singareni is prepared to undertake more such projects in the future.