5.5 GW tendered and 2.75 GW renewable capacity awarded in India

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The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has published two Requests for Selections (RfS) for the development of 5.5 GW capacity on build-own-operate bases. One RfS seeks to award 3 GW solar photovoltaic capacity, while the other invites proposals for up to 2.5 GW generated by wind.

Bidders must propose solar projects with at least 50 MW generation capacity and with capacity in multiples of 10 MW only. Projects may be set up at a single location, or be installed in “blocks” in multiple locations. The minimum capacity of each block is 20 MW, and blocks must be set up in the same state.

Respondents to the wind RfS must propose projects with capacity between 50 and 300 MW. 

SECI shall enter into Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with the successful bidders of both tenders for a period of 25 years. Neither RfS places any restriction of the location of proposed projects. For more information, see the Business Opportunities section of our website.

Recent tenders indicate mixed demand for capacity amongst developers. SECI has recently awarded 2 GW solar capacity in a tender that was oversubscribed by 1.8 GW. The lowest bidder, ACME Power was awarded 600 MW at INR2.44 (US$0.0354) per kWh - the lowest PPA price ever proposed in a solar auction, also quoted by the company in an auction last year.

Azure Power also won 600 MW, but at a slightly higher tariff of INR2.53 (US$0.0367) per kWh.  Shapoorji Pallonji, Hero Solar and Mahindra Susten were each awarded 250 MW, and the remaining 50 MW was awarded to the next lowest bidder Mahoba Solar, a subsidiary of Adani, who bid to install 500 MW. 

Considerably higher tariffs were quoted in response to SECI's more recent RfS for 750 MW solar photovoltaic capacity to be installed in Kadapa solar park in Andhra Pradesh. SB Energy Corp and Sprng Energy proposed the lowest PPA price - INR2.70 (US$0.0392) per kWh, with Ayana Renewable Power close behind at INR2.71 per kWh. All three developers were awarded 250 MW capacity.

The high demand for solar capacity is offset by the lack of demand for wind - SECI's recent 2 GW tender has only received bids amounting to 1.2 GW. ReNew Power, Adani Green, Sprng Energy, and Alfanar have each proposed projects with 300 MW capacity. The projects have not yet been officially awarded. 

These tenders and awards are part of the Government of India's ambitious target of achieving 175 GW power capacity from renewable energy resources by 2022. 100 GW are to come from solar photovoltaic power and 60 GW from wind power.