India plans 2 GW wind tender
As the country moves from feed-in tariffs to auctions, India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has revealed a tender for 2 GW of wind capacity will be carried out by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), part of 4.5 GW of wind projects set to be auctioned by February 2018. The most recent tender in October reached a price of INR2.64 ($0.04) per kWh, a price competitive enough to attract distribution companies looking to meet non-solar renewable purchase obligations. SECI will be issuing a request for selection soon.
India's renewable energy ministry on Thursday announced a tender for 2 GW of wind capacity to be carried out by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

India is in a process of transitioning from feed-in tariffs (FiTs) to auctions in the wind sector. The government's first 1-GW wind auction achieved a price of INR 3.46 (USD 0.053/EUR 0.045) per kWh and was followed by a second 1-GW tender, concluded in October, that resulted in a price of INR 2.64 per kWh.

Announcing approval for the bigger tender on Wednesday, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said that the competitive prices are encouraging distribution companies (discoms) to purchase wind power to meet their non-solar renewable purchase obligation (RPO). Buyers under the scheme will be discoms of non-windy states that need wind power to fulfil the non-solar RPO.

According to the document, published by the ministry, SECI should issue a request for selection (RfS) in a few days. Projects of at least 50 MW and up to 400 MW will be awarded per bidder. The off-take contracts will be for 25 years.

Navigant Research this week said that wind turbine orders announced globally fell in the first half of 2017 in part due to the shift to bidding in the Indian wind industry.

When reporting half-year results earlier this month, domestic wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd (BOM:532667) said the "transition period" was impacting volumes, but expressed confidence that the industry would regain momentum. "With the newly discovered tariff, Wind is competitive with respect to other sources of energy and has emerged as a mainstream energy source," chief executive J P Chalasani said then.

Last month there were reports in local media that the Indian government was considering tendering 4.5 GW of wind projects in three batches by February 2018 to speed up capacity additions.

(INR 100 = USD 1.546/EUR 1.303)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!