The scarcity of suitable sites, geographic and environmental constraints, regulatory complexities, and high land acquisition costs pose significant barriers to the growth of wind-solar hybrid power projects. However, the economic benefits of co-located wind and solar hybrid power projects far transcend the challenges with their ability to optimally use the transmission infrastructure. The Indian government has recognized the potential of hybrid power projects and has implemented the National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy. A project will be recognized as a hybrid power project if the rated power capacity of one resource is at least 25% of the rated capacity of the other resources.

The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission has set a levelized tariff of ₹2.84 (~$0.034)/kWh for wind power projects with capacities below 10 MW commissioned between June 6, 2022, and March 31, 2027. This decision comes in light of the revised competitive bidding guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power, which set the threshold for wind power projects to participate in the competitive bidding process at 10 MW. Gujarat’s renewable policy also allows power distribution companies to procure power from small wind projects up to 10 MW capacity at a pre-determined levelized tariff.

The Bilaspur Division—Electrical of the South East Central Railway in Chhattisgarh has issued a tender for 1.88 MW rooftop solar systems to be installed in CAPEX mode on service buildings, station buildings, and residences. The last date to submit the bids is September 24, 2024. Bidders must submit an earnest money deposit of ₹591,700 (~$7,048). The successful bidder must also pay a security deposit of 5% of the contract’s total value. The project must be completed in 12 months. The tender’s advertised value is ₹88.33 million (~$1.05 million). Bidders must submit bid security of 2% of the cost for work estimated at ₹10 million (~$119,112).

REC Power Development and Consultancy Limited has handed over Tumkur-II REZ Power Transmission to G R Infraprojects to evacuate 1.5 GW of power from the Tumkur Renewable Energy Zone in Karnataka. GRIL emerged as the transmission service provider in the tariff-based competitive bidding process conducted by RECPDCL. The project will be executed on a build, own, operate, and transfer basis. The project involves the establishment of a 400/220 kV, 4 X 500 MVA pooling station near Tumkur and 27.2 km of a 400 kV line along with associated works.

Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency has issued a tender to empanel engineering, procurement and construction contractors for the design, manufacture, supply, erection, testing, net metering, and commissioning of a cumulative capacity of 22,965 kW grid-connected rooftop solar systems and small solar projects. The scope of work includes operation and maintenance of the projects for five years. The last date to submit the bids is September 9, 2024. Bids will be opened on September 11. The estimated cost of the project is ₹1 billion (~$11.91 million). Bidders must pay an earnest money deposit of ₹20 million (~$320,000). They must also pay a performance security equivalent to 5% of the work order value.

Consumers with a minimum contract demand or sanctioned load of 100 kW can access Green Energy Open Access, according to the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions for Green Energy Open Access and Banking) Regulations, 2024. There is no maximum power supply limit for captive consumers. The regulations align with the green energy open access rules issued by the Ministry of Power in June 2022.

Independent power producer Sunsure Energy has secured ₹2.26 billion (~$26.92 million) in long-term debt financing from Tata Capital to bolster its portfolio of open access solar projects in Uttar Pradesh, with a total operational capacity of 75 MW. The financing, distributed across five special purpose vehicles, supports commissioned solar projects located in Uttar Pradesh. These projects are already supplying clean energy to industrial consumers in the state and are expected to offset approximately 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Oriana Power has secured a ₹2.48 billion (~$29.50 million) engineering, procurement, and construction contract for a 52 MW ground-mounted solar power project in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh from Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL). The scope of work involves the design, engineering, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of the solar project. Oriana will also have to secure approval from the Central Transmission Utility of India, for transmission lines, and operations and maintenance for five years, Oriana said in a filing on the National Stock Exchange.