The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) approved a tender of another 1,000 MW under its Wind program on May 4, 2017.

“With the success of the first 1,000 MW wind auction, the MNRE launched another round of wind auction for 1,000 MW capacity wind power projects,” stated a government release.

The MNRE approved the tender as it wants to facilitate fulfilment of non-solar renewable purchase obligations (RPO) through wind. By auctioning wind projects, the MNRE also wants to encourage competitiveness in the wind sector.

An additional 100 MW capacity can be allotted to Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) willing to undertake the development of Inter-State Transmission Systems-connected wind power projects on a build, own and operate basis per the provisions in the program without participation in the bidding process. However, the allocation will be at the lowest bid tariff recorded through reverse auction under the program. The minimum capacity that can be allocated to a CPSE will be 50 MW on a first come first serve basis.

The MNRE has mandated, that a developer can bid for a minimum 50 MW and maximum 250 MW capacity. The upper ceiling tariff has been set at Rs.4 (~$0.062)/kWh. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) will be the implementing agency and will sign power purchase agreements with developers at the lowest discovered price for a 25-year period. The SECI will also enter into 25-year power sale agreements with buyers at a pooled price of the total capacity tendered.

The project completion timeframe is 18 months from the date the letter of award is issued. If there is a delay of up to six months, the developer will forfeit a proportion of its performance bank guarantee based on the capacity not yet commissioned. If there is a delay of more than six months, the quoted tariff will be reduced at a rate of Rs.0.50 (~$0.0077)/kWh per day for the remaining capacity.

The actual date of project commissioning will be considered the commercial operation date. A project will be declared commissioned upon completion of a minimum of 50 MW capacity or 50 percent of entire project capacity, whichever is higher.

The developer will be responsible for the connectivity of the project to the Interstate Transmission System for long-term access.

Mercom previously reported, in November 2016, that SECI tendered the first 1,000 MW of wind at the behest of MNRE. Memorandum of Agreements for the sale of power from these projects were recently signed and only need to be completed by DISCOMs (distribution companies) from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Odisha, and Assam.

According to Mercom’s recent update on the Energy Mix, wind currently accounts for 32,279.77 MW in total installed capacity and 9.88 percent of the overall power generation. At the end of the financial year 2015-16, wind energy made up 8.86 percent of the cumulative energy mix with installed capacity of 26,743.31 MW.

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