Hyderabad: The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) saved ₹26 lakh through the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), established for the first time in the state. This system enables surplus solar power generated during the daytime to be stored in batteries instead of being supplied free of cost to the grid, thereby allowing its utilisation whenever required and generating financial benefits for Singareni.The SCCL has installed a one MW BESS four months ago as an auxiliary facility to the 28 MW Singareni solar plant in the Mandamarri area. The management invested ₹2.5 crore for this project.What is the use of BESS?
HARYANA, INDIA – APRIL 22: Solar panels are seen installed in an agriculture field on April 22, 2026 in a village of Haryana, India. India, which imports roughly 88 percent of its crude oil and had been steadily expanding purchases of discounted Iranian barrels before the conflict escalated, now faces mounting pressure to secure alternative supplies as tanker insurance costs and shipping routes through the Persian Gulf come under renewed strain. (Photo by Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images)
Taking advantage of the encouragement being extended by the state govt towards solar energy, several state-owned organisations, including Singareni, have been generating solar power. Singareni has already established solar plants with a total capacity of 245.5 MW at eight different locations. Out 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 grids.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. The excess electricity must therefore 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 even from this surplus power, Singareni, under the directions of the state govt, experimentally established a one 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, after meeting local power requirements, some electricity still remained surplus. In this context, Singareni established the BESS at the Mandamarri plant in January this year.Since then, the BESS unit has been utilised for local requirements, and the remaining 3,35,485 units of electricity have been stored and used whenever required.A BESS unit with just one MW capacity could save such a substantial amount of electricity and generate significant financial benefit.The management stated that in line with the govt’s objective of promoting renewable energy resources, Singareni is prepared to undertake more such projects in the future.
