The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has tendered 1,000 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar in India for installation on government buildings and offices throughout the country. Of the 1,000 MW, 300 MW will be developed under CAPEX (purchase) model and 700 MW under the RESCO (lease) model. This is a global tender; any company or developer can participate regardless of location. The bid-submission deadline is January 27, 2017.

Developers of CAPEX projects can bid for a minimum of 500 kW and a maximum of 50 MW; developers of RESCO projects can bid for a minimum of 2 MW and a maximum of 100 MW. Developers can bid for a maximum capacity of 150 MW under CAPEX and RESCO together. Successful bidders can also secure loans from Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency.

Winning developers will have to include, operation and maintenance of CAPEX projects for five years and RESCO projects for 25 years.

Under the CAPEX model, the developers are expected to enter into an agreement with the rooftop owner at a ceiling project cost of Rs.75,000 (~$1,111)/kW. For RESCO projects developers will have to sign power purchase agreements (PPA) for 25 years at a tariff of Rs.7.00 (~$0.10)/kWh for general category states and Rs.5.37 (~$0.08)/kWh for special category states.

Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, North-Eastern states, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Chandigarh, fall under the special category.

For projects under the RESCO model, bidding will be based on a levelized tariff. Winning bidders in general category states and union territories will be provided an incentive of Rs.18,750 (~$278)/kW, and winning bidders in special category states and islands will be provided an incentive of Rs.45,000 (~$667)/kW.

Successful bidders will need to submit a bank performance guarantee of (Rs.1.875 million (~$27,774)) times allocated capacity in MW in general category states and (Rs.4.5 million (~$66,658)) times allocated capacity in MW in special category states or union territories.

This is the second large-scale rooftop solar auction by SECI; in April, 2016, the nodal agency tendered 500 MW. The recent development is in accordance with solar rooftop targets set by MNRE.

The rooftop solar sector recently received World Bank’s approval of a global environment facility (GEF) grant of $22.93 million (~Rs.1.55 billion) to enhance installed capacity of grid-connected rooftop solar PV (GRPV) and strengthen the capacity of relevant institutions for widespread installation of GRPV in India.

“This is the largest solar rooftop tender in India, so far. With only 605 MW of rooftop solar installed in India to date, installations are well-behind the government’s target of 40 GW by 2022,” commented Mercom Capital Group CEO and Co-founder, Raj Prabhu.