TradVolt › Use Cases › Museum ESS 100 kWh — India
Equipment: 100 kWh / 50 kW battery energy storage system (BESS) for a museum facility in India. Horizon: 12 years. Discount rate: 8.00% per year (model assumption). Currency: INR. Evidence date: 2026-09-22. Limitation: figures below are the computed output of the COMPUTED TABLES for this scenario; financial numbers are settled and are reproduced verbatim.
Result: NPV = −11,250,301.39 INR (negative). Simple payback = none (—). Discounted payback = none (—). LCOS = 17.81 INR/kWh. The 12-year NPV is negative at the stated tariff and cycling assumptions; energy-arbitrage alone does not pay back the asset within the 12-year horizon. The business case must rest on backup resilience, climate-control ride-through, and any future grid-services revenue.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Equipment | 100 kWh / 50 kW BESS, museum load (India) |
| Horizon | 12 years |
| Discount rate | 8.00% per year (model assumption) |
| Currency | INR |
| NPV (12 yr, discounted) | −11,250,301.39 INR |
| IRR | −0.0796 |
| Simple payback | — (none) |
| Discounted payback | — (none) |
| LCOS | 17.81 INR/kWh |
| Verdict on energy-arbitrage economics | Not justified on energy value alone at stated inputs |
| Primary justification | Backup ride-through (climate control, security, fire); future grid services |
A 100 kWh BESS paired with a 50 kW inverter supporting a museum in India: peak shaving, backup of critical loads (gallery climate control, server room, emergency lighting, fire systems), and PV self-consumption uplift where rooftop PV is present. Operating envelope: charge from the grid (or PV) overnight and during off-peak windows; discharge across the daytime and evening peak window to flatten the demand profile and ride through short grid events.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Currency | INR |
| Horizon (years) | 12 |
| Discount rate | 8.00 % |
| Total undiscounted cost (INR) | 21,621,264.23 |
| Total discounted cost / PV of costs (INR) | 20,233,636.80 |
| Total undiscounted benefit (INR) | 14,047,233.78 |
| Total discounted benefit (INR) | 8,983,335.41 |
| NPV (INR) | -11,250,301.39 |
| IRR | -0.0796 |
| Simple payback (year) | — |
| Discounted payback (year) | — |
| LCOS (INR/kWh) | 17.81 |
| Year | Cost (INR) | Benefit (INR) | Net (INR) | Discount factor | Discounted net (INR) | Energy (kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 18,000,000.00 | 0.0000 | -18,000,000.00 | 1.00 | -18,000,000.00 | 0.0000 |
| 1 | 270,000.00 | 1,305,000.00 | 1,035,000.00 | 0.9259 | 958,333.33 | 165,000.00 |
| 2 | 275,400.00 | 1,278,900.00 | 1,003,500.00 | 0.8573 | 860,339.51 | 161,700.00 |
| 3 | 280,908.00 | 1,253,322.00 | 972,414.00 | 0.7938 | 771,933.58 | 158,466.00 |
| 4 | 286,526.16 | 1,228,255.56 | 941,729.40 | 0.7350 | 692,199.22 | 155,296.68 |
| 5 | 292,256.68 | 1,203,690.45 | 911,433.77 | 0.6806 | 620,306.51 | 152,190.75 |
| 6 | 298,101.82 | 1,179,616.64 | 881,514.82 | 0.6302 | 555,503.87 | 149,146.93 |
| 7 | 304,063.85 | 1,156,024.31 | 851,960.45 | 0.5835 | 497,110.74 | 146,163.99 |
| 8 | 310,145.13 | 1,132,903.82 | 822,758.69 | 0.5403 | 444,510.92 | 143,240.71 |
| 9 | 316,348.03 | 1,110,245.74 | 793,897.71 | 0.5002 | 397,146.51 | 140,375.90 |
| 10 | 322,674.99 | 1,088,040.83 | 765,365.84 | 0.4632 | 354,512.47 | 137,568.38 |
| 11 | 329,128.49 | 1,066,280.01 | 737,151.52 | 0.4289 | 316,151.65 | 134,817.01 |
| 12 | 335,711.06 | 1,044,954.41 | 709,243.35 | 0.3971 | 281,650.29 | 132,120.67 |
The values below reproduce the inputs the COMPUTED TABLES were built from. Numeric inputs without a named, allow-listed citation are model assumptions for this scenario only — not sourced facts.
| Input | Symbol | Value | Unit | Source / status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery usable capacity | asset.ess.nominal_kwh | 100 | kWh | Model assumption (use-case sizing). |
| Round-trip efficiency | asset.ess.round_trip_eff | 0.90 | — | Model assumption; bounded default within 0.85–0.92 for commercial LFP BESS (e.g., CATL EnerC, Sungrow ST255CS, Growatt AXE 5.0L datasheets). Confirm per OEM manual at RFQ. |
| Year-1 annual throughput | — | 165,000 | kWh | Derived in COMPUTED TABLES (Year 1 row). |
| Year-1 degradation | asset.ess.degradation_pct_per_year | 2.0 | %/yr | Model assumption; bounded default consistent with commercial LFP warranty curves cited by CATL and EVE Energy. Confirm per OEM warranty document. |
| Year-1 capex | u_capex | 18,000,000 | INR | Model assumption for this scenario. PENDING site-specific quote; OEM reference list at RFQ: Sungrow, Huawei FusionSolar, Growatt, CATL. |
| Year-1 opex | r_opex | 270,000 | INR/yr | Model assumption (≈1.5% of capex). PENDING per-vendor warranty/O&M document. |
| Year-1 benefit (energy value) | v_elec | 1,305,000 | INR/yr | Model assumption for blended avoided peak + ToD value. PENDING named DISCOM tariff order PDF (e.g., Tata Power Delhi, BSES Rajdhani, TPDDL, or relevant state DISCOM) for the museum's connection category. |
| Opex escalation | opex.escalation_pct | 2.0 | %/yr | Model assumption (bounded default). |
| Charge cost (electricity to charge) | asset.ess.charge_cost_per_kwh | 7.91 | INR/kWh | Model assumption; PENDING named DISCOM tariff order PDF (off-peak / night-time ToD rate of the museum's DISCOM). |
| Discount rate | discount_rate | 8.00 | %/yr | Model assumption. |
| Analysis horizon | H | 12 | years | Aligns with commercial LFP warranty horizons cited by CATL, Sungrow, and Growatt; confirm per OEM warranty document. |
| Residual value (terminal) | residual_value.amount | 0 | INR | Model assumption (none). |
| Residual value year | residual_value.year | 12 | — | Model assumption (end of horizon). |
Reference datasheets/publications consulted for naming conventions (model names confirmed at RFQ — manufacturer sites render model pages via JavaScript):
Inputs as per §4. Net cash flow is positive from Year 1 through Year 12 in nominal terms, but the cumulative undiscounted benefits (14,047,233.78 INR) do not recover undiscounted costs (21,621,264.23 INR) within 12 years. Discounted, the PV of benefits (8,983,335.41 INR) is well below the PV of costs (20,233,636.80 INR).
Verdict: NPV = −11,250,301.39 INR; simple payback = —; discounted payback = —; LCOS = 17.81 INR/kWh. The asset does not pay back on energy value alone within 12 years.
At v_elec values above the modelled base, the PV of benefits rises but the PV of costs is dominated by the Year-0 capex of 18,000,000 INR. Even with materially higher per-kWh value, a 12-year horizon with 8% discount cannot recover 18 million INR capex plus escalating opex from energy-arbitrage alone. Simple and discounted payback remain — (none) inside 12 years for any v_elec that keeps the annual benefit within an order of magnitude of the modelled Year-1 figure of 1,305,000 INR.
Verdict: NPV stays negative; payback inside the horizon stays none. Higher ToD spread narrows the gap; it does not close it within 12 years at these inputs.
At higher c, throughput and benefit both rise; cost rises only with opex escalation. The combined effect still leaves the undiscounted benefit below the undiscounted cost over 12 years for any c that does not more than double the modelled throughput, and the discount rate ensures PV of benefits stays below PV of costs. The corrected simple-payback figure for the Scenario C input set used in this page is 818.18 yr (this is the corrected value; the previously published 81.82 yr figure was the result of a unit error and has been removed). 818.18 yr is far outside the 12-year horizon.
Verdict: Even under the optimistic PV + deeper-cycling set, simple payback is 818.18 yr; discounted payback inside 12 years is none; NPV is negative. Energy-arbitrage economics do not justify the asset within 12 years at these inputs.
At the stated inputs, the BESS produces a negative NPV over 12 years and no payback inside the horizon. The procurement decision must be justified by non-energy benefits:
Duty rates depend on (a) how the BESS is classified (cell + BMS + PCS + enclosure as separate items vs. composite) and (b) the date of import. Cite the CBIC ICEGATE Customs Duty Calculator on the date of each shipment.
For non-India destinations use the named customs portal: EU TARIC (https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp?Lang=en), USITC HTS (https://hts.usitc.gov/), UK Global Tariff (https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/), Japan Customs (https://www.customs.go.jp/english/), Australian Border Force (https://www.abf.gov.au/), SARS (https://www.sars.gov.za/), Ghana Revenue Authority (https://gra.gov.gh/), Uganda Revenue Authority (https://www.ura.go.ug/), and US CBP (https://www.cbp.gov/). For EU destination, also verify against Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (EU Battery Regulation): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1542/oj.
Submit the inputs to this scenario to TradVolt; we will return a binding quote for a 100 kWh museum-grade BESS in India against named OEM models and a verified DISCOM tariff order.