India continues solar surge with 3000 MW tender

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The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, has issued a Request for Selection for the development of 3000 MW grid-connected solar PV projects, through a build, own, operate (BOO) framework.

Each project shall have a fixed capacity of 250 MW, meaning that a maximum of 12 projects will be awarded under the RfS. The projects can be located anywhere in India.

SECI shall enter into 25-year Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with the successful bidders. The maximum tariff payable to project developers is fixed at INR2.93/kWh.

Bidders can either propose to set up the entire 250 MW capacity at a single location, or divide the project into a number of packages to be set up at multiple locations, across various states. The minimum capacity that can be installed at a single location is 25 MW. A project may consist of any number of packages, each being in multiples of 25 MW, with a minimum capacity of 50 MW. Each package must be interconnected at a single CTU substation, even if it consists of two 25 MW blocks installed at different locations.

Irrespective of the configuration of the projects proposed, bidders must quote a single tariff for the entire project. However, PPAs will be signed separately for each package. The bidders will be responsible for obtaining connectivity and Long Term Open Access (LTA) for each package.

The total number of projects to be allocated to one bidder is limited to three projects, with a cumulative capacity of 750 MW. This includes parent, affiliate and group companies.

The deadline to respond to the RFS is 27 April 2018. For more information, see the Business Opportunity.

The projects will contribute to the Government of India’s target of achieving a cumulative capacity of 100 GW solar PV installation by the year 2022. Since the start of 2018 there has been a noticeable drive to increase solar capacity in order to reach this target. As reported on this platform, SECI issued an RFS for 2000 MW solar PV projects in February, with a similar format to this one - eligible projects can have a maximum capacity of 250 MW and can be located anywhere in India.

In January the authority issued tenders for a total 1225 MW solar PV projects, but at fixed locations - 200 MW to be installed in Karnataka, in the south-west, 750 MW at a solar park in Andhra Pradesh, in the south-east, and six projects with a cumulative capacity of 275 MW to be located in the Kanpur Dehat and Jalaun districts of Uttar Pradesh, a state in the north of India. 

Additionally, a tender for a further 1 GW of grid-connected solar projects was issued by the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) in January.