The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has announced the winner of its tender for 400 MW of renewable power on a round-the-clock (RTC) basis.

ReNew Power won the auction for the entire tendered capacity of 400 MW with a quoted tariff of ₹2.90 (~$0.038)/kWh. A SECI official confirmed the conclusion of the auction to Mercom.

SECI set an annual escalation of 3% on the quoted tariff up to the end of the 15th year of the contract, as per the power purchase agreement (PPA). On Feb 28, 2020, SECI amended the terms of its tender to change the annual tariff escalation to 3% from 4% earlier.

The levelized tariff could be between ₹3.55 (~$0.47)/kWh to ₹3.60 (~$0.48)/kWh depending on the power generated from the project, the capacity utilization, and other factors.

The scheduled commissioning date for the full capacity of the project will be 24 months from the effective date of the PPA, according to SECI.

Earlier, Mercom reported that the tender was oversubscribed by 550 MW after SECI received bids for 950 MW in total. It received bids from Greenko for a capacity of 400 MW, ReNew Power for 400 MW, HES Infra for 100 MW, and Ayana for 50 MW.

In October last year, SECI had issued a tender to procure 400 MW of renewable energy on a round-the-clock basis. The energy procured through these projects will be supplied to the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Under this tender, solar, wind, and hybrid projects can be developed. Moreover, the renewable power installations can be further augmented with necessary energy storage systems as per the developer’s requirements to meet the criteria of supply of power during the peak hours. The bidder will also have the flexibility to choose the type of storage system to be installed like battery energy storage systems, pumped storage systems, mechanical and chemical systems.

The tender stated that the minimum capacity a bidder can apply for was 50 MW, adding that a maximum capacity of 400 MW could be allocated to a single bidder.

Mercom previously reported that the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) came up with a draft plan to supply round-the-clock power from renewable (solar, wind, and hydro) projects, which will be complemented with power from thermal projects. This system is supposed to help tackle one of the biggest issues when it comes to renewable power generation – intermittency.