The recent 2 GW solar auction by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) hit a historic low tariff of Rs 2.36 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from SolarPack, a Spanish developer—according to data shared by National Solar Energy Federation of India with pv magazine.
The auction saw the entire interstate transmission system (ISTS) solar capacity awarded at tariffs not exceeding Rs 2.38.
Other winners in SECI auction included Goldman Sachs backed Renew Power (400 MW), Italy’s Enel, French firm Eden Renewables, IB Vogt Singapore, UK investor-backed Ayana Renewable Power (300 MW each), and AMP Energy (100 MW).
Commenting on the results, consulting firm JMK Research issued an statement according to which “the key trigger for this kind of low tariff is zero safeguard duty for developers [post July 2020] and pass-through from basic custom duty (BCD) under Change In-law provision in this specific period, which are likely to significantly reduce project costs.”
“Most of the winners are international developers. Hence, access to low-cost financing can also be the key reason for such aggressive tariffs,” it added.
In its note, JMK Research highlighted Solarpack, Enel, and IB Vogt have no pipeline of solar projects, and therefore might be aggressive to build their portfolio. AMP Solar also has a project pipeline of only 100 MW plus a few other small projects under the open-access corporate PPA route.
Last week, the tender was oversubscribed with around 12 developers bidding for more than 4.3 GW of capacity, out of which seven were finally awarded.
