The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has extended the bid submission deadline for the tender to set up 500 MW (Phase I) of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Tamil Nadu on Build Own Operate (B-O-O) basis.

This is the first extension for this tender, and a SECI official informed Mercom that the new bid-submission deadline is May 27, 2019.

Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) will be the buyer of power from these grid-connected solar PV projects. SECI will enter into power purchase agreements with the successful solar project developers for 25 years. SECI will enter into a power sale agreement with TANGEDCO. For this tender, SECI has set the upper ceiling tariff at ₹2.85 (~$0.041)/kWh.

SECI had tendered the capacity in April 2019. The extension is because of tepid response gathered from developers. The capacity had initially been tendered by TANGEDCO in  November 2018, but as bidders stayed away from this tender, TANGDCO eventually canceled the tender. Mercom reported recently that prolonged payment delays to solar and wind developers seem to have tarnished the reputation of TANGEDCO.

In a recent article, Mercom reported that TANGEDCO had delayed payments for more than a year to renewable developers. Moreover, the distribution company also has been known for curtailing power from solar and wind projects. These practices have affected the DISCOM’s reputation gravely, and it is finding it very difficult to find takers for its wind and solar tenders.

As a result, the state DISCOM had to hand over its solar and wind tenders to the SECI.

Recently, SECI also issued a tender for the utilization of water bodies (reservoirs, dams, lakes) in Tamil Nadu for the development of 250 MW floating solar PV capacity.

According to Mercom India’s Solar Project Tracker, Tamil Nadu has an installed capacity of approximately 2 GW of solar PV. The state has 1.6 GW of solar projects under development.