Lowest (L1) tariff of ₹2.44 (~$0.0338)/kWh has been quoted in the recent auction held by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) for 500 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.

“Aditya Birla Renewables emerged as the L1 bidder by quoting a tariff of ₹2.44 (~$0.0338)/kWh to develop 100 MW of solar PV capacity. Giriraj Renewables (Avadaa) also quoted ₹2.44 (~$0.0338)/kWh to develop 300 MW. Azure Power was the other winner quoting ₹2.45 (~$0.0339)/kWh to develop 500 MW but will be awarded 100 MW through the bucket filling method,” a GUVNL official informed Mercom when contacted.

The official further stated GUVNL’s satisfaction with the auction result, adding that the letter of award will be issued within a week to the winning bidders.

Mercom previously reported that technical bids aggregating 1,925 MW had been submitted against the tendered capacity of 500 MW in GUVNL’s 500 MW tender.

This was a successful retendering of 500 MW solar projects by GUVNL. Earlier, GUVNL’s reasoning behind the cancellation of the auction and retendering the capacity was the huge gap between tariffs quoted in successive GUVNL solar auctions.

In all, 13 bidders had submitted technical bids out of which nine participated in the financial bidding. Surprisingly, not many bids showed the effect of safeguard duty. The tariffs quoted in the auction ranged between a high of ₹2.88 (~$0.0399)/kWh and a low of ₹2.44 (~$0.0338)/kWh.

After many twists and turns in the case, the Ministry of Finance recently issued an instruction asking the custom authorities to finalize all the provisional assessment and collect safeguard duty as per its earlier notification dated July 30, 2018.

According to the  notification, the government had levied 25 percent safeguard duty on solar modules and cells imported from China and Malaysia. The new Supreme Court order had made it amply clear that this safeguard duty will be levied effective July 30, 2018.

Image credit: Vector Green