A 1 GW solar auction in Gujarat has been postponed until March 19 after it attracted no bids because developers felt a ceiling tariff imposed by the state was too low.
The auction, which related to projects to be developed at the Dholera Solar Park, stipulated a maximum Rs2.75/kWh would be paid for electricity generated by the plants.
“We heard from various bidders yesterday that they did not want to participate at the moment,” an executive from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) reportedly told the Economic Times newspaper and website.
One anonymous developer quoted by the newspaper said: “The ceiling tariff is unrealistic because of the quality of the site. It is not plain land, the terrain is problematic, the construction cost there will be higher.”
Unrepentant
However, the GUVNL official quoted by the Times was insistent there would be no change to pricing, saying: “We will not increase the ceiling tariff.”
The latest postponement will come as a setback for the Gujarat state government’s plans to add 3 GW of clean energy capacity annually over the next three years, including 2 GW of solar capacity.
Although a 500 MW auction held in the state in February served up tariffs of Rs2.55-2.68/kWh, GUVNL had previously annulled auctions which resulted in solar electricity prices of more than Rs2.8/kWh.
The result of a 700 MW auction in December was cancelled, with GUVNL blaming high tariffs ranging from Rs2.84-2.89. The foreign developers who posted the lowest bids in that procurement exercise blamed high charges at the Raghanesda Solar Park, where the projects had to be based.
Last March, GUVNL cancelled a 500 MW auction as the lowest tariff it attracted was Rs2.98.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
1 comment
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.