Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) responsible to conduct wind energy auctions in India has seen tremendous response to the latest 1 gigawatt tender.
According to media reports, project developers have placed bids to set up a total of 2,898 megawatts against an offered capacity of 1,000 megawatts. The actual auction will take place soon, following some clarifications from the central regulator. This is the second wind energy auction undertaken in India at the central government level. The first auction took place in February this year.
The tender was oversubscribed with total 13 developers submitted bids equivalent to 2.6 gigawatts in comparison to 1 gigawatts bids called for. Bids were received from major giants including Adani Power, Hero Future Energies, Renew Power and Inox Wind. Most of the developers i.e. 69% bid to set up projects in the state of Tamil Nadu.
The first-ever wind energy auction in India yielded the lowest-ever tariffs of Rs 3.46/kWh (5.2¢/kWh). Four companies – Mytrah Energy, Green Infra (owned by Sembcorp), Inox Wind and Ostro Energy were awarded 250 megawatts capacity each while Adani Green Energy secured rights to develop 50 megawatts capacity. This tariff is significantly lower than the tariffs currently being paid by various power distribution companies across India.
At least four developers that won projects in the first auction – Inox Wind, Green Infra, Mytrah Energy, and Adani Green Energy – have submitted bids to set up 250 megawatt capacity each in the second auction as well. Some of the other major players in the Indian market to have submitted bids include ReNew Power Ventures, Orange Renewable, Continuum Energy and Hero Future Energies. Enel Green Energy is also believed to have submitted a bid.
All but two project developers have reportedly mentioned Tamil Nadu or Gujarat as the host state for the projects.
With such a huge response to the tender experts believe that tariff bids could drop to a new low. With the success of such competitive auctions the state governments, too, have decided to launch their own auctions. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have launched their respective tenders under the state government’s policy to meet renewable purchase obligation.
With the sharp fall in tariff bids compared to the prevailing feed-in tariffs for wind energy projects, several state governments have refused to sign power purchase agreements with under-construction or soon-to-be-commissioned wind projects.
