The auction activity in the month of August plummeted to almost a third of July, which saw the highest auction activity in the year with 6 GW of solar projects auctioned.

However, approximately 1.7 GW of solar projects were tendered in August 2018, according to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker. This is more than double the capacity tendered in July 2018.

The upswing in tender activity is the only bright spot  with the industry marred by the uncertainty due to  safeguard duty and cancellations of some large auctions.

Recently, Mercom reported that approximately 4 GW of solar auctions have been cancelled by multiple agencies in recent months.

Through August 2018, almost 34 GW of solar projects have been tendered.

According to the tender trajectory issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), approximately 30 GW is expected to be tendered in FY 2018-19. Approximately 21 GW has already been tendered.

Major Tenders in August

The Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has invited expression of interest (EoI) from project developers to develop 1,000 MW of grid-connected solar PV projects in the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) in the state.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)  issued a request for selection (RfS) for the setting up of 250 MW (50 MWx5) of grid connected solar PV power projects in Dondaicha Solar Park (Phase – I), located in Dondaicha of Dhule district.

SECI also issued a tender for the development of 160 MW of solar-wind hybrid power project with battery energy storage system (BESS) at Ramagiri, located in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.

SECI tendered 750 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to be developed on standalone basis across Rajasthan. SECI has fixed ₹2.93 (~$0.0427)/kWh as the upper tariff ceiling for this tender. The projects will have minimum individual capacities of 10 MW and will be set up in multiples of 10 MW, with a cumulative capacity of 750 MW.

The Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) tendered 200 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to be developed across 10 talukas of the state. Each taluka will have solar projects aggregating 20 MW each. The talukas are Mundargi, Gajendragad, Lakshmeshwar, Savanur, Haveri, Kushtagi, Maski, Kuragodu, and Gurmatkal and Hanur.

Major Auctions

In the auction held by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to develop 2 GW of interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, ACME Solar quoted the lowest (L1) tariff of ₹ 2.59 (~$0.0372)/kWh to develop 600 MW. Shapoorji Pallonji and Azure Power matched the L1 tariff to develop 500 MW and 300 MW respectively.

At the recently concluded auction held by Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (MPUVNL) for the development of 35 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar under RESCO model, AMP Solar India quoted the lowest tariff (L1) of ₹1.58 (~$ 0.022)/kWh. Recently, Mercom had reported that according to this MPUVNL tender, the first-year tariffs quoted in this auction are set to escalate by 3 percent per year over a period of 25 years.

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer