The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) issued an order approving the tariff rate for 680 MW of solar projects issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

In July of last year, Mercom reported that the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s 750 MW (Tranche-II) auction for grid-connected solar projects in Rajasthan saw the lowest tariff of ₹2.50 (~$0.0359)/kWh. Of the tendered capacity, only 680 MW of solar capacity was awarded.

SECI had tendered the capacity in March 2019, and in response, bids totaling 1,100 MW were submitted against a tendered capacity of 750 MW, but only 850 MW of techno-commercial bids qualified for the final round of the bidding process.

Along with a tariff of ₹2.50 (~$0.03)/kWh, a trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.001)/kWh is applicable for the projects.

The discovered tariff was much lower than the tariff cap of ₹2.68 (~$0.04)/kWh specified in the original tender, and since all the projects were located within the state, there was no inter-state exchange of power and that the tariff was appropriate.

The commission stated that the tariff determination process was transparent and adhered to all the necessary guidelines. It also noted that the competitive bidding process was also conformed to all the relevant guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power (MoP), as well.

Consequently, it said that it would allow for the adoption of the discovered tariff rate of ₹2.50 (~$0.03)/kWh along with a trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.001)/kWh for 680 MW of solar projects issued by the SECI for the state of Rajasthan.

Projects were awarded to the National Thermal Power Corporation (160 MW), Mahindra Susten Private Limited (200 MW), Hero Solar Energy Private Limited (250), and Azure Power Maple Private Limited (70 MW) for the above tariff.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender and Auction Tracker, Rajasthan has about 4.3 GW of large-scale solar projects in operation, with about 4.1 GW under development.