India Prepares For Its Largest-Ever Wind Energy Tender
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India’s Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has shared details of the largest wind energy tender ever in the country.
The Ministry, through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), is likely to launch the tender for 2000 megawatts of wind energy capacity soon. The development is part of the already ambitious timeline by the Ministry in its attempt to meet the 60 gigawatts of wind energy installed capacity by March 2022.
The minimum capacity bid at a particular site is 50 megawatts, and a company can bid for a maximum of 400 megawatts across all sites. There are also strict clauses for delay and/or failure to commission the capacity. As has been the case in the earlier two auctions, the winning developers will have to sign power purchase agreements with an intermediary which will then sign back-to-back agreements with interested power distribution companies.
While the projects will most likely be located in states rich in wind energy resources, the buyers of the generated electricity are generally those with low renewable energy resources and the need to meet their Renewable Purchase Obligation targets.
India’s first wind energy auction was held in February 2017, when the lowest tariff was discovered as Rs 3.46/kWh (5.3¢/kWh) and 1,050 megawatts of capacity was allocated among five developers. The second auction was held in October 2017 and, again, 1,050 megawatts of capacity was allocated to five developers at a much lower rate of Rs 2.64/kWh (4.0¢/kWh).
The state of Tamil Nadu also auctioned 500 megawatts of capacity to two developers at Rs 3.42/kWh (5.2¢/kWh) earlier this year. The state of Gujarat is also expected to auction 500 megawatts of capacity soon.
This year, India shifted from a feed-in tariff regime to an auction regime, thereby highly regulating the wind energy project pipeline. The Ministry announced that 4.5 gigawatts of capacity will be auctioned at the central level by February 2018.
The shift has also resulted in the lowest-ever capacity addition in a quarter in Indian wind energy capacity. Only 192 megawatts of wind energy capacity was added in Q3 2017, down from 932 megawatts in Q3 2016.
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