Problems do not seem to go away for the Indian renewable energy sector as project developers continue to face a multitude of problems and choose to stay away from competitive auctions.
Leading developers either stayed away or recorded limited participation in the seventh national-level wind energy tender. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) had offered 1.2 gigawatts of capacity at the national level. However, bidders placed bids only for 600 megawatts. 
According to media reports, only four bidders placed bids for the tender. Adani Green Energy (250 megawatts), Engie (200 megawatts), Sprng Energy (100 megawatts), and ReNew Power (50 megawatts) placed bids. Among the major issues that plague the project developers are limited project sites, land acquisition, and tariff threshold set by SECI.
A large number of wind energy projects secured by developers in the first six national-level wind energy tenders issued by SECI are expected to come up in the western state of Gujarat. Now the developers are reportedly struggling to find project sites to develop new projects.
Another important concern among project developers is the maximum threshold of tariff bid announced by SECI. The threshold in this round of auction was Rs 2.83/kWh (4.1 US¢/kWh). Since the fourth round of national-level wind energy tender the lowest tariff bid has increased by over 12% to Rs 2.82/kWh (4.1US¢/kWh) in the sixth tender.
The disinterest among the project developers is significantly high in this tender. ReNew Power Limited is the leading developer in terms of capacity secured in all wind energy auctions held in India to date. The company has secured over 1.8 gigawatts of capacity directly or through subsidiaries in seven of the ten state and national-level wind energy auctions. The companies’ average win in these seven tenders has been just over 300 megawatts. In comparison, ReNew Power bid only for 50 megawatts in the seven tender.
Other major bidders in recent auctions like Mytrah Energy, Alfanar Energy, Continuum Energy, Hero Future Energies, and SB Energy refrained from bidding in the seventh SECI auction.
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