India’s largest power producer, NTPC Limited, has launched a major tender for battery energy storage systems (BESS) at its thermal power plants in Uttar Pradesh. According to the company’s invitation for bids issued on August 8, NTPC is seeking engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partners to develop 1,700MW/4,000MWh of capacity across 11 sites. The projects include 300MW of four-hour duration storage, equal to 1,200MWh, and 1,400MW of two-hour duration storage, totaling 2,800MWh. The tender specifies a 12-year service life for the assets, designed for twice-daily cycling, with an annual maintenance contract also part of the scope.

The state-owned utility, formerly known as the National Thermal Power Corporation, is a key driver in India’s push for energy storage deployment. NTPC, which currently supplies around a quarter of the nation’s electricity through its 80GW of installed capacity, is also one of the government’s central agencies tendering both lithium-ion and pumped hydro storage. These efforts align with a standardized procurement framework introduced in 2022 and supported by the Union Government’s Viability Gap Funding scheme, which covers about 30% of project capital costs. According to the India Energy Storage Alliance, more than 171GWh of capacity has been tendered nationwide so far, including 55GWh in the first half of 2025.

Despite this rapid pace of bidding, progress on operational projects remains limited. Analyst Charith Konda of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis recently noted that less than 220MWh of large-scale BESS is currently online in India. Challenges include aggressive bidding that risks financial viability, as well as grid connection and contracting delays. The NTPC initiative represents one of the largest steps yet toward scaling storage, but whether these tenders translate into timely projects remains an open question.