Gujarat tenders 700 MW without capping tariff

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has tendered 700 MW of grid-connected solar PV power projects to be set up under Phase III of the Raghanesda Solar Park, located in the state. No upper tariff limit has been set.

October 4, 2018 Preeti Verma Lal

To be built on a build own operate (BOO) basis, the project parcels are distributed over three plots, two of which will have a capacity of 250 MW, respectively, and one, a capacity of 200 MW. The permissible bidding capacities are 700 MW, 500 MW, 450 MW, 250 MW, or 200 MW, and the bid-submission deadline is November 15, 2018.

Designed to fulfill renewable purchase obligations (RPOs), and to meet the future requirements of state discoms, the projects will be installed for delivery of energy at the 220/400 kV Khimanawaas sub-station via a 33/220 kV internal pooling sub-station, which will be built by the solar park developer.

The GUVNL will enter in a 25-year PPA with the successful bidder, which must reach financing arrangements within 12 months from the date of execution of PPA. Part commissioning of the project will be accepted by GUVNL, but the minimum project size must be 25 MW. In cases of early part-commissioning, GUVNL will purchase the generated energy at 75% of the PPA tariff, until the scheduled commissioning date.

Last month, a 500 MW tender by GUVNL saw two developers quoting a tariff of Rs 2.44 ($0.033) per unit, which was at par with the historic low first achieved in May 2017 through a 500 MW auction conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India for Bhadla Phase-III Solar Park in Rajasthan.

In a recent order, the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has imposed an additional surcharge of Rs 0.44 ($0.0060)/kWh to all open access consumers who fall under GUVNL’s discoms. The new rates are valid for open access transactions from October 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019.

With an installed capacity of approximately 1.4 GW, and a development pipeline of over half a gigawatt, Gujarat accounts for 7% of the installed utility-scale solar projects in India.

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