Daily News Wrap-Up: MERC Approves Tariffs for 1.5 GW of Solar Projects

Speakers at the Jaipur Clean Energy Meet discussed Rajasthan’s open access potential

September 30, 2025

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The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission approved tariffs of ₹2.52 (~$0.0283)/kWh and ₹2.53 (~$0.0285)/kWh for Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company’s (MSEDCL) purchase of 1,475 MW capacity of solar energy from NHPC. It also approved a trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.0007)/kWh. In June 2023, NHPC issued a tender to set up 3,000 MW of interstate transmission system-connected solar projects across India. The auction’s discovered tariffs were ₹2.52 (~$0.0283)/kWh to ₹2.53 (~$0.0285)/kWh with a trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.0007)/kWh. It sought MSEDCL’s consent to procure power from this project in November 2023. MSEDCL agreed to procure the power at the discovered tariffs.

Rajasthan had about 2.4 GW of solar open access as of June 2025, making it one of India’s top states, with roughly 9.8% of the country’s total solar capacity. The state also held the largest open access pipeline, around 10.2 GW as of June 2025, mostly standalone solar at ~80%, solar plus storage at ~10%, and solar–wind hybrids at ~9%. Policy is also pushing for storage as green energy open access projects above 5 MW must include batteries sized for at least two hours of generation or 5% of project capacity. Charge relaxations or exemptions apply when energy is supplied from a storage source. These relaxations refer to waivers or reductions of the grid/open access fees for energy delivered from a storage system.

Joining the list of renewable energy companies going public in India over the last 18-20 months, a solar module manufacturer and a solar EPC company debuted on the bourses, raising ₹13.64 billion (~$170 million) between them last week. The initial public offerings (IPOs) of module manufacturer Saatvik Green Energy and engineering, procurement, and construction solutions provider for solar water pumps GK Energy received an enthusiastic response from investors and were subscribed several times over. These two IPOs come close on the heels of another module manufacturer, Vikram Solar, going public with a ₹15 billion (~$176 million) issue.

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam floated a request for selection to set up 250 MW grid-connected wind power projects under Phase X, with a greenshoe option for procuring an additional 250 MW at the lowest discovered tariff. Bids must be submitted by November 3, 2025. Bids will be opened on November 7. The scope of work includes setting up wind projects, along with the transmission network for connecting the project to the central transmission utility at the interstate transmission system level or through Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation substations at the intrastate transmission system level.

Kolkata-based solar cell and module manufacturer Websol Energy System commissioned a 600 MW Mono PERC cell manufacturing line at Falta, West Bengal. The company’s solar cell manufacturing capacity has now doubled to 1.2 GW. It also has a 550 MW solar module line at the same facility in the Falta Special Economic Zone. Websol said it had to temporarily shut down its existing cell and module manufacturing lines for approximately eight days due to certain commissioning-related activities. This shutdown has had a one-time impact on the company’s revenue during the second quarter of the financial year 2026.

Oyster Green Hybrid Three, a subsidiary of Oyster Renewable Energy, achieved financial closure for its 342 MW wind-solar hybrid project in Madhya Pradesh, securing a loan of ₹18.44 billion (~$207.71 million) from the Union Bank of India with a tenure of approximately 20 years. The company said the co-located solar-wind project will be connected to the interstate transmission system. It added that it has finalized a 25-year power purchase agreement under captive norms with a process industry unit. Oyster provides solar, wind, and solar-wind hybrid solutions to clients in the commercial and industrial sector. It plans to invest ₹160 billion (~$1.8 billion) to achieve a renewable energy capacity of 2 GW by 2028. The company is expected to close a capacity of 300 MW by December 1, 2025.

France-based diversified multinational energy company TotalEnergies sold 50% of its 1.4 GW solar portfolio in North America to global investment firm KKR for an enterprise value of $1.25 billion. It has signed an agreement with KKR and insurance vehicles for the sale. TotalEnergies said it will receive $950 million at closing from these transactions, as well as the bank refinancing currently being finalized. The agreement encompasses six utility-scale solar assets with a combined capacity of 1.3 GW and 41 distributed generation assets with a total capacity of 140 MW, primarily located in the U.S.

The U.S. energy storage market achieved its strongest ever quarter in the second quarter of the financial year 2025, with total installations reaching 5.6 GW/17.8 GWh, according to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report from the American Clean Power Association and Wood Mackenzie. The utility-scale segment accounted for 4.9 GW/15 GWh of this total, a 63% year-on-year increase. Texas, California, and Arizona together contributed nearly 75% of this newly installed capacity, each adding around 1.2 GW. Oklahoma re-entered the utility-scale market with three projects totaling 170 MW, while the national project pipeline has seen some contraction, falling from 1,080 projects in 2024 to 801 in 2025, a 26% decline.

China announced its new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets for 2035, aiming to expand the country’s installed wind and solar capacity to 3.6 TW. The new targets for wind and solar capacities are over six times their 2020 targets. Chinese President Xi Jinping revealed the new targets at the United Nations Climate Summit held in New York. The revised NDCs will also make new energy vehicles mainstream in new vehicle sales. They also aim to reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7% to 10% from peak levels and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30%.

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