The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has auctioned 200 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to be developed at the Pavagada solar park located in Tumkur district of Karnataka.

According to Mercom India Research, four 50 MW blocks, namely, B23, B24, B25 and B26 have been kept ready at the Pavagada solar park to develop this capacity.

In January 2018, SECI had tendered 200 MW of grid-connected solar PV projects to be developed at the Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka. The capacity was tendered under the National Solar Mission (NSM) Phase-II Batch-IV Tranche-XIV.

“SoftBank emerged as the lowest (L1) bidder after quoting a tariff of ₹2.82 (~$0.0416)/kWh to develop the entire capacity tendered,” a SECI official told Mercom.

When asked about the signing of the power purchase agreement (PPA), the SECI official said, “By the end of July 2018, SECI will have entered into a 25-year PPA with Softbank at the lowest (L1) tariff.”

When asked about the other bidders in this auction, the SECI official said, “There was only one other bidder, Tata Power Renewables, which bid a tariff of ₹2.83 (~$0.0417)/kWh for the entire capacity and lost.”

As observed in a recent Mercom analysis, established players with financial backing have continued to dominate larger auctions held in the country in the recent past.

The L1 tariff quoted in this auction is ₹0.11/kWh more than the L1 tariff of ₹2.71 (~$0.0401)/kWh quoted in the auction held by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) for the development of 1 GW of grid-connected solar projects in the state of Maharashtra.

Moreover, the tariffs quoted in this auction are slightly higher than the tariffs quoted in the recently concluded NTPC’s 750 MW grid-connected solar PV auction.

Karnataka is the top solar state in India, exceeding 5 GW of cumulative solar installations and represents 24 percent market share of the total installed capacity in India as of Q1 2018, according to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker.