SAEL Industries and Avaada Energy have won Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company’s (MSEDCL) auction (Tranche-X) to supply 500 MW of solar power from intrastate grid-connected solar projects.

SAEL won 100 MW by quoting ₹2.87(~$0.034)/kWh, and Avaada won the rest of 400 MW at a tariff of ₹2.88(~$0.035).

The tender was floated in February this year.

The tender had specified that projects must have a minimum capacity of 25 MW at a single location, and the minimum bid capacity should be 50 MW.

Projects under construction, not yet commissioned, or without any long-term PPA with any agency were eligible to be considered if they were not accepted under central or state programs.

Another stipulation was that only established and operational technologies could be used to reduce technology risk and ensure the timely commissioning of projects.

The winning bidder will have to arrange for grid connectivity. This includes transmitting power up to the point of interconnection and setting up energy accounting infrastructure.

The tender also mandated using modules from the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Further, the tender required that the solar modules used for the project must have a warranty for peak output wattage, which should stay within 90% by the end of ten years and 80% by the end of 25 years from the commercial operation date.

MSEDCL will be able to increase its renewable energy procurement and meet its renewable purchase obligation (RPO) targets.

RPO is a regulatory mechanism that requires electricity distribution companies to purchase a certain percentage of their power from renewable energy sources.

MSEDCL plans to sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the chosen bidders to buy power for 25 years.

Recently, MSEDCL invited bids to procure 350 MW of solar power from projects to be developed in the state.

Earlier, MSEDCL had invited bids to procure 450 MW of power from solar projects to be developed in the state.