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Given the increased emphasis on renewable energy and the state’s expanding peak-time power consumption, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is taking a close look into grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Grid-scale storage systems are a type of technology that allows utilities to store generated electricity for later consumption. Solar or hydropower, harvested during off-peak hours throughout the day, can be stored and used later to satisfy nighttime peak demand when energy rates are similarly high.
According to B. Ashok, CMD of KSEB, the state electricity company plans to launch a BESS project in Thiruvananthapuram. Describing it as a container-sized system, he said that they might connect it to the Technopark or Medical College substation.
Ashok added that the system is perfect for essential installations that require a very stable power supply, such as airports, technoparks, and medical institutions.
He claims that the system may be put inside a substation like a transformer and that the grid would continue to charge it.
The KSEB issued an EoI in November 2021 for the construction of storage facilities with a total capacity of 10 MW. The state electricity board’s capacity to integrate BESS into its future operational regime and increase grid dependability will also be tested as part of the pilot plan.
Ashok believes that BESS has the potential to support the peak time or a power shortage phase as it is a cheaper, surplus solar or hydroelectricity source.
Furthermore, BESS ‘are poised to become important,’ stated the Union Power Ministry, for integrating renewable energy capacities throughout the country.
Rooftop, ground and reservoir-based solar power projects are all in the works in Kerala with an aim to generate 1,000 megawatts (MW) from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro by 2025.
In its Capital Investment Plan for 2022-2027, the KSEB observed that, if at least 70% of the charging need is covered by renewable sources, the Power Ministry has declared a remission of interstate transmission costs on electricity provided to/from BESS projects commissioned before June 2025.
