Vertical: Higher Education · Region: India (Indicative; verify local Discom tariff order before procurement) · Horizon: 10 years · Equipment family: CATL LFP 3.35 MWh cabinet + Sungrow PCS + third-party BMS · Evidence pack dated 2026-09-22. Limitation: model uses bounded default inputs (residual value, degradation rate, charge cost) and an indicative Indian state ToU tariff; replace with project-specific Discom data before issuing an RFQ award.
Headline verdict. Base-case NPV is −1,193,940 USD over a 10-year horizon at 8.00% discount; neither simple nor discounted payback is reached inside 10 years; LCOS = 0.2247 USD/kWh discharged. The project does not pay back on arbitrage economics alone at USD 350/kWh turnkey capex; viability requires lower realised capex, ≥365 cycles/yr, a wider ToU differential, or a state capital subsidy. Decision table follows.
| Metric | Base case | Read |
|---|---|---|
| NPV @ 8.00%, 10 yr | −1,193,940.41 USD | Negative; project destroys value at base inputs |
| Simple payback | — (none within horizon) | No year where cumulative net ≥ 0 |
| Discounted payback | — (none within horizon) | No year where discounted cumulative net ≥ 0 |
| LCOS | 0.2247 USD/kWh discharged | Above USD 0.10/kWh ToU differential → arbitrage gap |
| IRR | n/a | No sign change in cumulative cash flow over horizon |
An Indian university campus typically combines academic blocks, hostels, research labs, and central air-conditioning. Loads peak during the late afternoon (17:00–22:00), driven by HVAC and lab equipment, and dip overnight when hostels dominate. Many state Discoms apply Time-of-Day (ToD) tariffs with sharp evening-peak differentials, and large HT consumers are billed on recorded kVA demand charges. A 3 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) sized at roughly 0.5C enables two parallel value streams: ToU arbitrage (charge off-peak, discharge on-peak) and demand-charge shaving (cap the monthly peak kVA), with ride-through for a campus microgrid as a secondary benefit. Realised economics, however, depend on local Discom tariff structure, EPC tender outcomes, and the state-specific BCD / IGST / SWS rate — none of which are asserted as facts on this page.
Every input below is either sourced to a specific document URL (access date 2026-09-22 unless noted) or marked as an explicit bounded assumption. Bounded defaults (residual value, degradation rate, charge cost) are not sourced facts; they are model assumptions disclosed per editorial policy.
| Input | Value | Unit | Source / assumption |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nameplate energy capacity | 3,000 | kWh | Project specification (3 MWh class) |
| Usable depth of discharge (DoD) | 90 | % | Working assumption; consistent with BNEF 2024 grid-scale LFP operating range (80–95%) |
| AC round-trip efficiency (RTE) | 88 | % | Working assumption; consistent with NREL ATB 2024 utility-scale BESS AC RTE range (85–90%) |
| Turnkey capex (battery + PCS + BOS + EPC) | 350 | USD/kWh | Working assumption; bracket sourced to BloombergNEF Battery Price Survey 2024 utility-scale Li-ion turnkey band USD 300–400/kWh |
| Annual fixed O&M (% of capex) | 2.5 | %/yr | Working assumption; bracket consistent with NREL ATB 2024 utility-scale BESS fixed O&M ~2–3%/yr |
| Equivalent full cycles per year | 330 | cycles/yr | Working assumption; ~1 cycle/working day per Indian university calendar |
| ToU peak–offpeak differential (Δ) | 0.10 | USD/kWh | Working assumption; bracket consistent with indicative Indian state ToD peak premium ≈ INR 2–3/kWh over off-peak at illustrative INR 83/USD — replace with binding local Discom order |
| Project evaluation horizon | 10 | years | Editorial choice; matches COMPUTED TABLES horizon |
| Discount rate | 8.00 | % | Explicit bounded default (model assumption; not sourced) |
| Residual value (terminal) | 0 | USD | Explicit bounded default (asset.ess.residual_value.amount = 0) |
| Residual value year | n/a | year | Explicit bounded default (asset.ess.residual_value.year = end of horizon, zero payout) |
| ESS calendar degradation | 2.0 | %/yr nameplate | Explicit bounded default (asset.ess.degradation_pct_per_year = 2.0%); applied to nameplate in cash-flow model |
| Charge cost (off-peak grid import) | 0.05 | USD/kWh charged | Explicit bounded default (asset.ess.charge_cost_per_kwh = 0.05); not a sourced figure |
| INR/USD reference rate | 83 | INR/USD | Working assumption, indicative 2024–2025 spot band |
| Document | Issuer | URL | Access date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lithium-Ion Battery Price Survey 2024 (utility-scale turnkey band) | BloombergNEF | https://about.bnef.com/blog/lithium-ion-battery-pack-prices-see-largest-drop-since-2017-falling-to-115-per-kilowatt-hour-bnef/ | 2026-09-22 |
| Annual Technology Baseline 2024 — Utility-Scale Battery Storage (RTE, O&M) | NREL | https://atb.nrel.gov/electricity/2024/ | 2026-09-22 |
| Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) — ToD Tariff Regulations / indicative state ToD orders | CERC | https://www.cerc.gov.in/ | 2026-09-22 |
| Indian state Discom tariff order (illustrative; e.g. CESC / TPDDL / Tata Power Delhi) | State ERC / Discom | https://www.cercind.gov.in/ | 2026-09-22 |
Where the COMPUTED TABLES cite a base-case benefit of ≈ USD 8,100 in Year 1 (≈ 891,000 kWh × effective per-kWh margin), the model internalises the bounded-default charge cost, the 2%/yr degradation curve, and the implicit off-peak→on-peak spread. A more negative (or more positive) local Δ will scale the benefit column linearly; replace Δ and re-run before any RFQ award.
The base case models a named equipment family rather than a generic "3 MWh LFP BESS". Final SKU, firmware, and warranty terms must be re-confirmed with the EPC at RFQ stage.
| Subsystem | Model / family | OEM | Reference document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery cabinet (LFP) | CATL EnerC 3,720 kWh containerised LFP cabinet (use 1× cabinet ≈ 3.35 MWh usable at 90% DoD as illustrative 3 MWh class) | Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) | CATL EnerC product page — https://www.catl.com/en/ess/ (landing; specific datasheet PDF confirmed at RFQ) |
| PCS (bidirectional inverter) | Sungrow ST3440UD-MV / ST2750UD-MV family (utility-scale, 1500 V DC) | Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. | Sungrow product page — https://www.sungrowpower.com/en (specific model datasheet confirmed at RFQ) |
| BMS | CATL factory-integrated BMS within EnerC cabinet (CAN / Modbus TCP to PCS) | CATL | OEM manual — revision confirmed at RFQ; limits: cell DoD ≤ 90%, charge 0–55 °C ambient, discharge −20–55 °C ambient, DC voltage window per cabinet nameplate |
| EMS / SCADA | Sungrow iSolarCloud / third-party EMS (project-specific) | Sungrow or third party | OEM manual — revision confirmed at RFQ |
Operating limits (DoD ≤ 90%, voltage window per cabinet nameplate, thermal envelope 0–55 °C ambient for charge / −20–55 °C discharge) are taken from the OEM manual referenced above. Treat the limits as illustrative pending confirmation of the exact manual revision bundled with the shipping lot. Outdoor Indian ambient > 45 °C should drive a project-specific derating note from the EPC.
The two tables below are the only mathematics in this page. They were produced by the scenario TCO model from the inputs in §2 and are copied verbatim. Prose around them must not add figures, methodology steps, or closed-form checks beyond what is in these tables.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Currency | USD |
| Horizon (years) | 10 |
| Discount rate | 8.00 % |
| Total undiscounted cost (USD) | 1,344,088.77 |
| Total discounted cost / PV of costs (USD) | 1,244,284.92 |
| Total undiscounted benefit (USD) | 74,085.51 |
| Total discounted benefit (USD) | 50,344.51 |
| NPV (USD) | -1,193,940.41 |
| IRR | n/a |
| Simple payback (year) | — |
| Discounted payback (year) | — |
| LCOS (USD/kWh) | 0.2247 |
| Year | Cost (USD) | Benefit (USD) | Net (USD) | Discount factor | Discounted net (USD) | Energy (kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1,050,000.00 | 0.0000 | -1,050,000.00 | 1.00 | -1,050,000.00 | 0.0000 |
| 1 | 26,250.00 | 8,100.00 | -18,150.00 | 0.9259 | -16,805.56 | 891,000.00 |
| 2 | 26,906.25 | 7,938.00 | -18,968.25 | 0.8573 | -16,262.22 | 873,180.00 |
| 3 | 27,578.91 | 7,779.24 | -19,799.67 | 0.7938 | -15,717.61 | 855,716.40 |
| 4 | 28,268.38 | 7,623.66 | -20,644.72 | 0.7350 | -15,174.49 | 838,602.07 |
| 5 | 28,975.09 | 7,471.18 | -21,503.91 | 0.6806 | -14,635.20 | 821,830.03 |
| 6 | 29,699.47 | 7,321.76 | -22,377.71 | 0.6302 | -14,101.75 | 805,393.43 |
| 7 | 30,441.95 | 7,175.32 | -23,266.63 | 0.5835 | -13,575.85 | 789,285.56 |
| 8 | 31,203.00 | 7,031.82 | -24,171.18 | 0.5403 | -13,058.94 | 773,499.85 |
| 9 | 31,983.08 | 6,891.18 | -25,091.90 | 0.5002 | -12,552.19 | 758,029.85 |
| 10 | 32,782.65 | 6,753.36 | -26,029.30 | 0.4632 | -12,056.60 | 742,869.26 |
This block is typical / illustrative. Final certificate numbers and issuers (UL, TÜV, IEC, BIS) must be evidenced by the EPC contractor on a project-specific basis and tied to the serial range of the shipped cabinets.
Disclaimer: TradVolt does not assert any customs duty or GST rate as fact. The "PENDING" tags above require the buyer to (a) consult the current CBIC Schedule-I for 8507.60, (b) reference the relevant Chapter/Heading notes, and (c) obtain a binding ruling from the jurisdictional customs officer or a licensed customs broker before placing any order. Duty treatment depends on country of origin, invoice classification, EPC-vs-supply split, and any applicable exemption notifications.