At SECI’s previous solar auction of 2000 MW three days ago, the lowest tariff had been Rs 2.44 per unit, while other winning tariffs were in the range of Rs 2.52 to Rs 2.54 per unit.
Solar tariffs again showed an upward trend at the latest Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) auction on Friday, with winning tariffs of Rs 2.70-2.71 per unit.
At SECI’s previous solar auction of 2000 MW three days ago, the lowest tariff had been Rs 2.44 per unit, while other winning tariffs were in the range of Rs 2.52 to Rs 2.54 per unit.
The current auction, for 750 MW at the Ananthapuram Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh, was won by SB Energy, the joint venture of SoftBank, Foxconn and Bharti Airtel, which bid Rs 2.70 per unit; Sprng Energy, the renewable energy platform of London-headquartered private equity fund, Actic LLP, which quoted Rs 2.71 per unit; and Ayana Renewable Power, backed by the UK government’s development finance institution CDC, which also sought the same price of Rs 2.71 per unit. The three were allotted 250 MW each.
“The difference in tariffs is primarily because of the high solar park charges in Andhra Pradesh and the shorter time of only one year given to the developers to complete their projects,” said Vinay Rustagi, Managing Director at solar consultancy, Bridge to India. In the earlier auction for 2000 MW, projects were location-agnostic and could be set up anywhere, to be connected to the Inter State Transmission System (ISTS). “The time allotted was also 21-24 months,” said Rustagi.
Solar tariffs hit an all time low of Rs 2.44 per unit for the first time in May 2017 at a SECI-conducted 500 MW auction at the Bhadla Solar Park (Phase III), Rajasthan. But thereafter they had been climbing steadily due to the rising cost of solar panels – which are largely imported from China – as well as fears of safeguard duty being imposed by India to protect local solar manufacturers. They rose to a high of Rs 2.94-3.54 at an 860 MW auction conducted by the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd in February this year. In end-May, however, the Chinese government stopped approving further solar projects within the country, fearing excess capacity, which in turn has weakened export prices of Chinese solar panels bringing down the solar tariff in the two auctions conducted since then in India.
Source: energy.economictimes.indiatimes
