Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) has issued an invitation for bids for a 265 MW / 530 MWh battery energy storage system project inside the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (UHBVNL) service area, the Renewable Watch news desk reported on August 28, 2026. The tender covers design, supply, erection, testing, commissioning and long-term O&M under India's tariff-based competitive bidding framework.
Two-hour BESS with a 14-month build window
The 265 MW / 530 MWh dispatch profile pins the asset firmly in the two-hour peak-shifting bucket that is now the workhorse configuration for Indian utilities looking to firm afternoon solar output into the evening ramp. Under the tender guidelines, the project must be commissioned within 14 months, after which the contractor takes on 12 years of comprehensive maintenance — a structure familiar from India's earlier standalone storage auctions. The bid submission deadline is August 31, 2026, with a tender fee of Rs 25,000.
SJVN as implementing agency, POWERGRID as bidder
UHBVNL has appointed SJVN Limited as the implementing agency for the process. SJVN issued the request for selection; POWERGRID is participating as a bidder. If POWERGRID wins the letter of award, it — or a nominated company under it — will build and operate the BESS. The setup mirrors the split now common in Indian storage procurement, where a central PSU acts as procurer to give discoms bankable long-term tariffs while a competing pool of developers takes construction and technology risk.
Building on POWERGRID's Khavda transmission push
The BESS bid follows POWERGRID's July commissioning of a Phase IV — Part E4 transmission system evacuating power from Gujarat's 7 GW Khavda renewable-energy zone, which achieved commercial operation from June 21, 2026. Stacking storage into the same distribution networks that are absorbing new solar and wind volumes is the country's cheapest path to firming as tariffs continue to trend downward. The tender lands on the same day that Greenvolt closed €218M for 1.6 GWh of BESS in Poland, and against a global backdrop where CATL is now selling LFP cells direct at $63/kWh and BloombergNEF is projecting 158 GW of storage deployments in 2026.
What to watch after August 31
Winning tariffs from this tender — and how they compare to earlier Haryana and Rajasthan awards — will be the immediate signal on whether Indian BESS pricing has crossed the threshold where discoms can procure storage without central subsidy support. If POWERGRID wins, the letter of award and 14-month clock start almost immediately.
Reporting based on coverage from Renewable Watch and POWERGRID / SJVN tender documents.