Solar projects were announced at a fast pace in India with a total of 834 MW of solar PV tendered in the month of October through programs like the State Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO), the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC’s) Self-Owned Projects and State Specific Bundling, and Solar-Wind Hybrid energy and Rooftop Solar, both under the National Solar Mission.

Solar has also received a strong push from Indian states as they start meeting their RPOs. The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) carried out the bulk of the tenders in October. In order to fulfill its state RPO, TANGEDCO, has issued a request for selection (RfS) to procure 500 MW of solar power from developers in Tamil Nadu.

Towards the end of the month, under the state specific bundling program, NTPC retendered a 250 MW solar project at Kadapa Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh.

As part of its plan to strengthen its presence in the solar sector, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) tendered 50 MW of solar in Tamil Nadu.

Under the Self-Owned Projects program, NTPC tendered a total of 25 MW of solar in the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar. These projects include a 17 MW project at Manglutan and an 8 MW project at Chidiyatapu. In Karnataka, the state-run power generator also tendered a 3.5 MW solar+wind hybrid power project at NTPC Kudgi.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has also been signed between NTPC, the Andaman & Nicobar Administration, and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for NTPC to set up 50 MW of solar projects with battery energy storage systems at Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands; tenders for these projects will be out soon.

Under the rooftop program, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has tendered 5.76 MW of grid connected rooftop solar on behalf of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL).

Overall, the month of October saw almost double the activity in terms of tendered projects compared to September when 415 MW of solar was tendered. However, 1,050 MW of solar projects were auctioned in September, whereas, no projects were auctioned in October.

Image credit: By Vinaykumar8687 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons