The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has cancelled tenders for 950 MW of solar capacity, some of which with battery storage, Mercom Capital said on Thursday.
An unnamed official from SECI told the sector consultancy that the capacity will be re-tendered and talks regarding the tariffs are undergoing. Mercom pointed out that the steeply falling solar tariffs may have caused the cancellation of the two tenders.
More specifically, the tenders included projects in the Kadapa and Pavagada solar parks in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) phase II, batch IV. A tender for 100 MW at Kadapa and for 200 MW of solar power generation capacity at Pavagada had a requirement for battery energy storage systems (BESS) of 5 MW/2.5 MWh.
Solar developers in India believe that tariffs could drop to INR 1.5 (USD 0.023/EUR 0.020) per kWh and still be viable, a source in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) told the Press Trust of India (PTI) early last month. Тhis was before the coming into effect of a new tax system and reports that the Indian government is mulling options for duties on Chinese solar imports.
In May, a solar auction for 500 MW capacity in Bhadla, Rajasthan got a bid of just INR 2.44 per kWh for the latest record in India.
(INR 100 = USD 1.554/EUR 1.335)
Source: renewablesnow
