The bidders at Bhadla in Rajasthan quoted a price below Rs2.75 per unit to set up 250 megawatt (MW) of capacity. This price is lower than the average rate of power generated by the coal-fuelled projects of India’s largest power generation utility, NTPC Ltd, at Rs3.20 per unit.
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which is running the bid process for 750MW of solar power capacity at two parks, has received price bids for the 250MW Adani Renewable Energy Park Rajasthan Ltd, with the reserve price set at Rs3.01 a unit.
SECI has attributed the bidders’ interest to tripartite agreements (TPAs) between the Reserve Bank of India, the Union government and the state governments, which provides comfort to power producers against payment defaults by state electricity boards (SEBs). At Bhadla, Saurya Urja Co. of Rajasthan Ltd is also developing a 500 MW park, with SECI running the auction process for both parks. Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corp. Ltd is a joint venture partner in both.
With 8.8 gigawatt (GW) of capacity addition projected for the year ahead, India is set to become the third-biggest solar market globally in 2017, overtaking Japan, according to the India Solar Handbook 2017 released by Bridge to India (BTI) consultancy
