Battery storage cheaper than TN coal power plants: Study

CHENNAI:A new economic viability analysis reveals that renewable energy along with the battery storage in Tamil Nadu is cost-competitive with new coal power plants.

The report finds the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) for a hypothetical hybrid, solar, wind and li-ion battery storage system for the State to be Rs 4.97/unit in 2021, which falls to Rs 3.4/ unit by 2030. In comparison, the cost of electricity produced from new coal power plants in Tamil Nadu is between Rs 4.5–6/unit. The hybrid system is designed to cater to 1000 megawatt (MW) of solar and wind capacity in 2021 with 2 hours of battery backup, which increases stepwise to a 4-hour back up by 2030.

The analysis, released by Climate Trends and JMK Research and Analytics, further highlighted that lithium-based battery storage systems could also help reduce curtailment of renewable energy. Close to 50 per cent of solar power in Tamil Nadu was curtailed since the lockdown in March 2020. Similarly, its curtailment of wind power in 2019 went up to 3.52 hours per day from 1.87 hours per day in 2018. “Our analysis found that the cost of hybrid renewable energy (RE) with battery storage system is at parity with new coal power plants in Tamil Nadu,” said Jyoti Gulia, founder of JMK Research and Analysis.

Besides, the State has five new thermal power projects in its pipeline over the next three years and Cheyyur with a tariff of Rs 5-6/kWh would be 32-43 per cent more expensive than the system modelled in the analysis.