In August, solar auctions fell precipitously in India. Compared to the robust auction activity in June, solar auctions by MWs fell by 95% in August with only 76 MW.

Solar tender announcements in India increased modestly by 15% in August 2017 compared to July 2017 when 633 MW of solar were tendered. However, tender announcements are meaningless without auctioning of these projects.

“Uncertainty around GST, the pending antidumping case, DISCOM’s looking at developers to match the lowest possible tariff have all contributed to the freeze in solar auction activity in India,” said Priya Sanjay, Managing Director of Mercom India.

Major Solar Tenders

The Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MAHAGENCO) tendered 110 MW of solar in two separate tenders.

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) tendered 241 MW of solar in three separate projects under the domestic content requirement (DCR) category.

The NTPC also tendered 250 MW of solar under the DCR category to be developed anywhere in India.

Solar Auctions

The Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL) successfully auctioned 67.38 MW of rooftop solar projects for the Indian Railways. These projects will be developed at premises and properties owned by the Indian Railways across India.

Mytrah Energy emerged as the biggest winner in this auction, winning projects totaling 30.87 MW. The company quoted the lowest tariff of ₹2.39 (~$0.0374)/kWh to develop 1.15 MW of rooftop solar for North Frontier Railways. Azure Power won projects totaling 25.26 MW.

Ujaas Energy received two orders from Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) for the installation and commissioning of 8.5 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar PV projects in Jharkhand.

Mercom previously reported that the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) cancelled the 200 MW solar project tender for the Pavagada Solar Park with plans to re-tender; the project was originally tendered in July 2017.

Mercom in its exclusive article stated that a 7.5 GW CPSU Program could be a game changer for Indian domestic solar manufacturers.

According to the Q2 2017 India Solar Quarterly Market Update by Mercom India Research, approximately 3.4 GW of solar were tendered in Q2 2017 compared to 1.85 GW in Q1 this year. There were 2.5 GW of solar projects auctioned in Q2 2017 compared to 1.3 GW in Q1 2017.

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Sampath has been part of the Mercom India research and news team since the company’s inception. He currently oversees all data and research relating to news published on the MercomIndia.com platform. Sampath received his Bachelor’s of Commerce Degree from Kuvempu University and Post Graduate Diploma in Management, from Indira Gandhi National Open University. More articles from Sampath Krishna.