Acme Solar and Azure Power managed to secure the rights to develop 600 megawatts of capacity each in the largest solar power tender issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India to date. The tender is jointly the largest tender issued in the country ever.
Tenders with 2 gigawatts of capacity each were issued by the states of Jharkhand and Telangana.
Acme Solar and Azure Power each placed successful bids to develop 600 megawatt capacity. While Acme Solar placed the lowest-bid of Rs 2.44/kWh, Azure Power secured the capacity at Rs 2.53/kWh.
Other successful bidders include Shapoorji Pallonji (250 megawatts), Hero Future Energies (250 megawatts), and Mahindra Susten (250 megawatts).
Under the conditions of these tenders, project developers will be free to choose the site for the project with no direct help from the government machinery. The developers will also have to apply for connectivity to the inter-state transmission network.
The reasons for such low tariff bids are multi-fold. One, the developers are free to set up projects wherever they want, and the capacity on offer is very large. Second, the power purchase agreements will be signed with SECI — a government-owned company — which represents very low risk. Third, no charges for transmission of solar power across different states.