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Solar Energy Corporation of India

Phase I Of 2,700 Megawatts Solar Power Park In India To Be Ready In 4 Months

written by saurabh

The first phase of one of the largest solar power parks in India is set to be operational in the four months.

Pavagada solar power park will see the 500 megawatts capacity operational by June 2017. The state government plans to increase the capacity of the solar power park to 2,700 megawatts by the end of next year.

The solar park is being developed as a joint venture between Karnataka Solar Power Development Corporation Limited and Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited. The location of the solar power park is apt given its extreme arid conditions.

NTPC Limited, on behalf of the joint venture, auctioned 500 megawatts capacity among six project developers. The highly competitive auction saw allocation of the projects at tariffs Rs 4.78/kWh to Rs 4.80/kWh. The power generated from these projects will be shared by the distribution utilities of Karnataka.

Tenders to set up additional capacity at the solar power park are expected to be floated soon. These tenders are expected to reap sharply lower tariff bids compared to those seen in the first phase. Land for the solar park has already been been acquired which means that project developers will not have to pay anything for land.

Solar power parks are expected to the backbone of India’s National Solar Mission which targets 100 gigawatts of operational capacity by 2022. The initial target for contribution by solar power parks was 20 gigawatts which was recently increased to 40 gigawatts by the government.

03/10/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

1 GW Auction Yields India’s Cheapest Wind Power At 5.2¢/kWh

written by saurabh

Four developers secured rights to develop a cumulative of 1,000 megawatts in first-ever wind energy auction held in India.

According to media reports, the four project developers were allocated 250 megawatts capacity each at a tariff of Rs 3.46/kWh (5.2¢/kWh) in the auction organised by the Solar Energy Corporation of India. Mytrah Energy, Green Infra, Inox Wind and Ostro Energy were the successful bidders.

Mytrah Energy and Green Infra are expected to set up projects in the state of Tamil Nadu while Inox Wind and Ostro Energy would likely set up projects in the state of Gujarat. The companies shall sell electricity generated to Power Trading Corporation of India which will in turn sign power sale agreements with interested utilities across the country.

All companies except Inox Wind are project developers while Inox Wind is a turbine manufacturer. Another project developer Adani Enterprises also placed a bid of Rs 3.46/kWh (5.2¢/kWh) but could not get any capacity allocation.

The tariff discovered in the auction is lower than feed-in tariff offered by any state. The lowest tariff offered is Rs 4.16/kWh (6.2¢/kWh) in Tamil Nadu, although Rs 3.82/kWh (5.7¢/kWh) is also offered in the state of Maharashtra at sites with low wind speeds.

Apart from Inox Wind, another turbine manufacturer participated in the auction. Gamesa India quoted a tariff of Rs 3.68/kWh (5.5¢/kWh) and failed to make the cut. ReNew Power Ventures, one of the leading project developers in India, also failed to grab any capacity as it quote a tariff of Rs 3.47/kWh.

Wind follows solar’s trend

The sharp correction in the price of wind power comes just days after India saw its lowest ever solar power tariff in an auction of 750 megawatts capacity. Solar power tariffs in the auction for Rewa solar power park collapsed from previous low of Rs 4.34/kWh (6.5¢/kWh) to Rs 2.97/kWh (4.5¢/kWh) although the levellised tariff for 25 years period will be Rs 3.30/kWh (4.9¢/kWh).

Indian bids in-line with global trends

The tariff bids seen in India’s first-ever auction are in-line with those prevalent in other markets. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), tariff bids for wind energy projects have converged around 4.0¢/kWh. Auctions held in Mexico, Egypt, Chile and Morocco were around the 4.0¢/kWh mark. Interestingly, tariff bids in developed countries – United Kingdom, Italy, Australia and Canada – were above 6.0¢/kWh.

02/25/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

India Officially Doubles Solar Parks Target To 40 Gigawatts

written by saurabh

The Indian government has confirmed that it will ho ahead with a second phase of the solar power park program.

The announcement made by the Minister of Finance in the union budget speech for financial year 2017-18. India will increase the planned capacity addition under solar power park program from 20 gigawatts to 40 gigawatts.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, along with the Solar Energy Corporation of India, has already identified several solar power projects with cumulative capacity of 20 gigawatts. Under the second phase an additional 20 gigawatts capacity will be added.

While the existing solar power park program has been expanded the overall installed capacity target remains the same at 100 gigawatts by March 2022.

This could essentially mean that the government recognises that the planned capacity addition of 40 gigawatts under rooftop solar segment may be too large a target.

Recent auctions for solar power parks have received huge response with tariff bids falling sharply nearly each time.

Distribution utilities remain unprepared for rooftop solar power systems and consumers too seem unaware about the benefits of the such power systems.

Large-scale solar power parks, on the other hand, have numerous advantages. Low cost, large generation potential and one-time investment in power evacuation infrastructure.

02/12/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

India’s First Wind Energy Tender Oversubscribed 2.6 Times

written by saurabh

The first-ever competitive auction in wind energy sector in India has received an overwhelming response from project developers with the tender being oversubscribed 2.6 times.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has floated India’s first wind tender for the development of 1 GW of wind projects earlier this month.

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 tender was floated for project sizes 50-250 megawatts. Bidders are free to set up project anywhere in India but are mandatorily required to connect their projects to 220 kV national grid allowing distribution companies to purchase power anywhere.

The SECI tender is unique in two ways – first, selected bidders will sign 25 year long-term power purchase agreements with power trading company, PTC India, which will sign back to back power purchase agreements with as yet unknown distribution companies; and second, existing operational projects and under construction projects are eligible to participate.

Most of the experts from the wind industry believe that competition like this would potentially bring down wind energy tariffs which currently ranges from INR 3.9 to 5.9 per kWh.

Media reports suggest that wind energy tariff bids could fall to as low as INR 4.00/kWh (5.90¢/kWh) once the 1 gigawatts of wind energy capacity is auctioned and allocated to project developers over the next few days. This will mark a 20% discount to the average wind energy feed-in tariffs determined by the various state regulators across India.

02/06/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Developers May Match Solar Bids In Upcoming India Wind Energy Auction

written by saurabh

Wind energy tariffs in India are set to crash to levels of the lowest solar power tariff bids in the upcoming and the first-ever wind energy auction.

The auction, being organised by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, did not have a benchmark tariff but the general lack of high wind speed sites across the country may push the bidders to place quite competitive bids.

Interestingly, the capital cost for setting up each megawatt of solar photovoltaic power plant and wind energy project is fairly the same in India, around $0.73-0.88 million. The lowest solar PV tariff for utility-scale solar power project is INR 4.34/kWh (¢6.40/kWh). However, in that case land for the project was provided by the government while in the case of wind energy auction the project developers will have to acquire land.

Still, a parity between wind and solar power projects will be remarkable. Solar power tariffs in India have collapsed sharply over the last six to seven years specifically due to the introduction of competitive auctions. Wind energy sector has prospered into the largest renewable energy technology in terms of installed capacity due to higher feed-in tariffs which continued to increase despite a fairly stable capital cost requirement and introduction of larger and more efficient turbines.

01/22/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Greenko Energy Holdings Orders 616 Megawatts Solar Inverters From SMA

written by saurabh

Greenko Energy Holdings, which now controls solar power assets of SunEdison India, has given a large order of solar inverters.

SMA, one of India’s major solar inverters providers, has landed an order to supply 616 MW of inverters for Greenko’s solar power projects in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. SMA shall supply Greenko with its ‘high-performance, cost-efficient’ Sunny Central 1000CP XT inverters.

The solar inverters are likely to be used at, perhaps, the largest solar power project being developed by a single company in India. SunEdison India had secured the rights to develop a 500 MW solar power project in Andhra Pradesh.

SunEdison had secured the project at a record-breaking tariff of ₹4.63 per kWh (US¢7.12/kWh) beating several leading project developers, including Trina Solar, SkyPower, ACME Solar, Aditya Birla, Azure Power, Welspun Energy, ReNew Power, and Suzlon Energy.

Greenko Energy Holdings seems to be progressing well with the project. Recently, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) received payment of $30 million as fees for the development of a 500 MW project. The project was secured by SunEdison India through competitive auction.

12/19/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Solar Power Tariffs In India Fall To Fresh Low Of US¢5.9/kWh

written by saurabh

Highly competitive bidding has resulted in the revision of feed-in tariff for solar power projects in India.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India has allocated 750 MW capacity in the state of Rajasthan at record-low tariff of Rs 4.00/kWh (US¢5.9/kWh). The auction was held under the Viability Gap Funding scheme wherein competitive bidding takes place for the capital cost support instead of tariffs.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had recently changed the tariff structure for projects under the VGF scheme. Earlier, VGF projects had a uniform rate of Rs 4.43/kWh (US¢6.6/kWh). Now, states that have seen bids falling below Rs 4.50/kWh (US¢6.7/kWh) will have uniform VGF tariff of Rs 4.00/kWh (US¢5.9/kWh) while all others shall have tariff of Rs 4.50/kWh (US¢6.7/kWh).

So far, only the state of Rajasthan has seen tariff bids falling to below Rs 4.50/kWh (US¢6.7/kWh). The latest auction was for two phases of the Bhadla solar power park.

The lowest tariff bid in India till date stands at Rs 4.34/kWh (US¢6.4/kWh). The bid was secured by Fortum for a 100 MW solar power project as part of the Bhadla solar power park.

11/28/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

India Receives $30 Million Fees For 500 MW SunEdison Project

written by saurabh

One of the largest solar power projects to be developed by a single company seems to be on-track for timely commissioning.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has received payment of $30 million as fees for the development of a 500 MW project. The project was secured by SunEdison India through competitive auction.

There were significant concerns about the various projects secured by SunEdison India through competitive auctions after SunEdison filed for bankruptcy.

Greenko Energy Holdings had acquired operational and under-development assets from SunEdison. Greenko took control of 500 MW operational assets and 900 MW of assets under development. The acquisition also includes 425 MW of solar assets that SunEdison India sold to Terraform Global last year.

Greenko Energy Holdings reportedly payed around Rs 670 crore (US$100 million) cash to SunEdison and also issued fresh bank guarantees worth Rs 200-250 crore (US$30-37.5 million) for the outstanding debt for these projects.

10/26/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Tariff Bids For Domestic Content Solar Projects In India Falls To Lowest-ever

written by saurabh

Even as India lost review of an earlier WTO decision that found mandatory use of Indian-made solar equipment against international norms, leading project developers in the country placed lowest-ever bids for projects based on domestic content requirement.

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) auctioned off two solar power projects at one of the largest solar power parks in the country. Tata Power Renewable Energy and Adani Green Energy secured rights to develop projects of 50 MW capacity each. The projects shall form part of the Pavagada solar power park in Karnataka.

Both the projects are required to use only Indian-made solar power equipment, including modules. The companies placed bids of less than Rs 5.00/kWh (US$7.5/kWh), the lowest-ever for projects auctioned under the Domestic Content Requirement scheme.

The Pavagada solar power park is still in its very initial stages of development. While a total capacity of 5 GW has been proposed, plans for only 2 GW have been shared in the public so far.

NTPC auctioned 500 MW capacity for the solar park. The capacity was allocated to six developers who are free to choose Indian or imported solar power modules for their projects. Adani Power, Tata Power Renewable Energy and Fortum India secured 100 MW capacity each at tariff of Rs 4.79/kWh (US¢7.9/kWh).

09/28/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

India Auctions 450 MW Solar Capacity Under Capital Cost Support Scheme

written by saurabh

Solar Energy Corporation of India has auctioned another batch of projects under the Viability Gap Funding scheme.

A total of 450 MW solar power capacity was auctioned by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in the western state of Maharashtra. The auction took placed under the Viability Gap Fund (VGF) program wherein bidders quote minimum capital cost support they would need to set up the power projects.

In the current auction, tariff was fixed at Rs 4.43/kWh (US¢6.6/kWh) with power purchase agreement with SECI for a period of 25 years. A total of seven companies were allocated capacity between 10 MW and 130 MW.

The lowest bid was placed by a company names Vijay Printing Press which secured a 10 MW project at a tariff bid of Rs 4.42/kWh and did not sought any financial support. All other winners secured projects at the fixed tariff of Rs 4.43/kWh and sought capital cost support between US$28,503/MW and US$29,988/MW.

The largest capacity, of 130 MW, was secured by a company named Solar Edge Power and Energy at US$28,503/MW. Interestingly, two foreign companies also secured large capacities. UK-based Lightsource won rights to develop 50 MW capacity while Canadian Solar will develop 80 MW capacity.

Lightsource had announced last year that it will invest in India’s solar power market following an agreement signed by the company with the Indian government. The company had announced plans to set up 3 GW of solar power capacity at a total investment of $3 billion.

09/26/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

SoftBank, SkyPower Global Eye Share In 1 GW Solar Power Park In India

written by saurabh

A number of Indian and foreign project developers are looking to set up projects under the planned 1 GW solar power park in the Indian state of Odisha.

According to media reports, interested developers include SoftBank-led SB Energy and Canada-based SkyPower Global. Among the Indian developers looking to set up projects are Azure Power, Panchvaktra Holdings, Orange Renewable and Shapoorji Pallonji.

Last year, the government of Odisha has announced plans to set up 1 GW solar power park spread over 5,000 acres of land. The state would acquire 20% of the electricity generated while the developers shall be free to sell the balance in open market, perhaps one of the reasons for such great interest shown by these companies.

Under the public partnership model, Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd (GEDCOL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation would be the nodal agency for implementation of the solar park. GEDCOL would partner with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for development of this park.

Auction of projects that will form part of the solar power park will likely by conducted by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) which also recently auctioned 270 MW solar power capacity in the state.

09/24/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

India To Auction Another 150 MW At Gujarat’s Charanka Solar Park

written by saurabh

Solar Energy Corporation of India continues to take steps to further increase the capacity of one of India’s largest solar power park.

Another tender of 150 MW has been floated by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for the Charanka solar power park. The tender will offer the capacity in project size of 50 MW each.

The prospective project developers will be free to source the solar equipment and modules from Indian or foreign manufacturers. The solar power park already has an installed base of 345 MW while SECI has auctioned an additional 265 MW capacity recently.

In June this year, two projects of 40 MW capacity each were secured by government-owned Gujarat Industries Power Limited. The company sought capital cost support of Rs 67.99 lakhs/MW (US$101,810/MW) and Rs 69.75/lakhs per MW (US$104,446). The total capacity cost for the project is expected to be around Rs 5.30 crore/MW (US$793,640/MW).

Another 40 MW project was secured by renewable energy IPP Orange Renewables which quoted a bid of Rs 70.25 lakhs/MW (US$105,344/MW).

Two 40 MW projects have reportedly been allocated to Mahindra Renewables, part of the Mahindra & Mahindra industrial conglomerate. One of the projects is to be developed using Indian-made solar PV modules only. Interestingly, the company placed the same bids for both the projects – Rs 77.77 lakhs/MW (US$116,455/MW).

Last month, SECI auctioned 65 MW solar PV power capacity in the Charanka solar power park, Gujarat. Indian project developers ReNew Power Ventures and Mahindra Renewables secured 40 MW and 25 MW capacity, respectively. ReNew Power Ventures quoted a bid of Rs 7.01 million (US$104,700) per MW while Mahindra Renewables placed a bid of Rs 7.77 million (US$115,892) per MW. The developers shall be free to choose imported or Indian-made modules.

09/23/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Coal India Announces 600 MW Solar Power Projects

written by saurabh

World’s largest coal mining company and government owned Coal India Limited recently announced the second phase of its solar power expansion plan.

According to media reports, the company announced plans to set up 600 MW solar power projects across four states. The company had earlier stated plans to set up 1 GW of solar power capacity across the country. During the first phase the company will set up two solar power projects of 100 MW capacity each in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

The 600 MW capacity will be set in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Maharashtra. The capacity will be allocated through reverse auctions and tenders for have already been issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India.

The 1,000 MW solar power target announced by Coal India is part of its ’green commitment’ to the government. The company shall have this capacity operational by 2019.

Another major coal mining company in India – NLC Limited – is also aggressively working on setting up solar power projects. Last month, the company announced that it started construction work on its third solar power project.

The construction of this project is part of company’s ambitious plan to establish 4,000 MW of solar power capacity in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and Rajasthan. These projects would be implemented under the National Solar Mission scheme announced by the central government.

09/12/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

India Allocates Another 65 MW At Charanka Solar Power Park

written by saurabh

The series of project allocations by Solar Energy Corporation of India continue as the country developers several solar power parks simultaneously.

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) auctioned 65 MW solar PV power capacity in the Charanka solar power park, Gujarat. The projects were auction under the viability gap funding scheme wherein developers are required to submit the minimum capital cost support they will require to set up the projects.

Indian project developers ReNew Power Ventures and Mahindra Renewables secured 40 MW and 25 MW capacity, respectively. ReNew Power Ventures quoted a bid of Rs 7.01 million (US$104,700) per MW while Mahindra Renewables placed a bid of Rs 7.77 million (US$115,892) per MW. The developers shall be free to choose imported or Indian-made modules.

The bids placed by the ReNew Power and Mahindra Renewables are higher than the successful bids placed for projects at the same solar power park earlier this year. SECI had auctioned 200 MW capacity in June with all project developers required to use Indian-made modules. The bids at that time were between US$101,810 and US$116,455 per MW.

Government-owned entity Gujarat Industries Power Limited and Mahindra Renewables secured 40 MW capacity each in that auction while Orange Renewables secured a 40 MW project. All the projects will sign power purchase agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India for a period of 25 years at a fixed tariff of Rs 4.43/kWh.

08/31/2016 1 comment

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