SECI allocates 630 MW renewables-plus-storage in India

The fourth tender from Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has resulted in the selection of developers who placed bids to supply firm and dispatchable power from RE projects with energy storage systems at an average tariff of INR 4.98 ($0.059)/kWh.

SECI had originally launched the tender for the supply of 1.26 GW firm and dispatchable power. The tendered capacity was later reduced to 630 MW. Out of the total tendered capacity of 630 MW, 625 MW procured by SECI has been provisioned to be sold to BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), Delhi, and the remaining 5 MW has been provisioned to be sold to GIFT Power Co. Ltd (GIFT PCL), Gujarat.

JSW Neo Energy secured 230 MW. Hero Future Energies, Hexa Climate, Serentica Renewables, and Vena Energy won 100 MW each. The winning developers will set up renewable energy projects backed with an energy storage system to supply a cumulative 630 MW of firm and dispatchable renewable energy in a demand-following manner.

“The price discovery is at a 11% discount from the price discovery of [SECI’s] FDRE 2 tender at INR 5.59/kWh (eventually cancelled), resulting from relaxation of some bid criteria in the present tender. The tender went through multiple amendments, with the bid capacity being reduced from 1,260 MW to 630 MW, the load profile being changed to hourly from the initial 15-minute profile, and the demand fulfilment ratio (DFR) metric being reduced from initial 90% to 80% on a monthly basis,” said Debmalya Sen,  India Lead – Advanced Energy Solutions, World Economic Forum.