Tag:

ACME Solar

Fotowatio Renewable Wins First Solar Power Project In India

written by saurabh

The Indian solar power market continues to attracts new foreign developers despite the recent concerns over the fate of solar power project pipeline of SunEdison.

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures has secured its first win in India. The company secured rights to develop 100 MW solar power project in Andhra Pradesh. The project shall be part of a larger solar power park in the state.

The project was allocated through a competitive auction where the tariff was fixed but bidders had to indicate the lowest capital cost support they would need from the government.

Fotowatio will set up the 100 MW with a capital support of Rs 44.5 lakhs (US$67,000) per MW at a fixed tariff of Rs 4.43/kWh. The capital cost support desired by the company is less than 9% of the total capital cost determined by the Indian regulatory body for solar PV projects for the current financial year.

Other major winners of the tender were Acme Solar (150 MW), Tata Power Renewable Energy (100 MW) and Azure Power (50 MW). These developers will receive capital cost support of between Rs 55 lakhs (US$82,800) to Rs 74.5 lakhs (US$112,200) per MW against the estimated capital cost of around US$790,000 per MW.

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures was in the news recently for being part of a consortium that place the world’s lowest-ever solar power bid. The consortium had placed bid of US2.99/kWh for the third phase 800 MW capacity of the Dubai solar power park. This tariff is less than half the tariff Fotowatio will receive in the Andhra Pradesh project.

Fotowatio was acquired by Saudi Arabia-based Abdul Latif Jameel Group in April 2015.

05/07/2016 0 comment

Articles Renewable Energy

Indian Solar Power Bids Stabilise At US$7/kWh In Absence Of Foreign Competition

written by saurabh

In the absence of international project developers who had driven solar power bids to historic lows in India, fresh bids seem to have stabilised at around US$7/MWh.

In one of the recent solar power auctions in India the competition among bidders remained very high but the lowest tariff was in-line with those seen in other auctions where foreign developers had failed to make the cut.

A total of 350 MW solar power capacity was auctioned in the southern Indian state of Telangana. The winning bids were Rs 4.66/kWh and Rs 4.67/ kWh (US¢7.00/kWh). Five developers managed to secure 350 MW capacity within this tight bidding range.

ReNew Power Ventures and Azure Power won 100 MW capacity each while Karvy Consultants Adani Enterprises and ACME Solar won 50 MW capacity each. All these developers, except Karvy Consultants, are some of the most active project developers in the Indian solar power market. Karvy Consultants is one of the India’s largest integrated financial services provider.

Again, no foreign developers could secure any project. It was not immediately clear which foreign developers participated. Last year, the likes of SunEdison, SkyPower Global, SBG Cleantech and Fortum Group had driven the solar power tariffs to record-low levels of Rs 4.34/kWh (US¢6.5/kWh).

Following the bankruptcy protection filing by SunEdison the participation by foreign project developers has gone down sharply. And in their absence Indian developers have managed to win many projects at comparatively higher tariffs.

While the recent bids of around Rs 4.70/kWh (US¢7.1/kWh) are at a premium of around 8% to the lowest bid ever in India they are at a discount of 19% to the benchmark tariff set by the Indian regulatory body for the current financial year.

05/07/2016 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Competitive Solar Auction In India Keeps Tariffs Under US¢7.2/kWh

written by saurabh

Indian and international project developers continue to fight it out in one of the fastest growing solar power markets in the world.

The recent solar power auction in the Indian state of Karnataka saw one of the most competitive bidding in recent times. The auction allocated 500 MW capacity of the planned 2 GW solar power park part of the ambitious ultra mega solar power project scheme announced by the Indian government.

A total of 6 developers managed to win rights to develop the first phase of the solar power park. The winning bids were all within a range less than one US cent. The winning bids were between Rs 4.78/kWh to Rs 4.80/kWh (US¢7.2/kWh).

Interestingly, 5 of the 6 project developers were Indian companies while many major foreign developers, including SunEdison and Canadian Solar, failed to the cut.

Among the successful bidders, Adani Enterprises, Fortum Group (from Finland), ACME Solar, and Tata Power secured 100 MW project each while RattanIndia Power and ReNew Power Ventures won 50 MW project each.

Such a positive response to one of the first auctions under the ultra mega solar power scheme is very encouraging for the Indian government. The scheme is one of the mainstays of the Indian National Solar Mission which aims for 100 GW operational solar power capacity by March 2022.

Continued and active participation by the Indian developers is also a testament to the fact that it is not just the foreign developers that are propelling the low-cost solar power revolution in India.

04/26/2016 0 comment