The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)’s tender to set up 1,800 MW of inter-state transmission system (ISTS)-connected wind power projects under tranche VIII has been undersubscribed by 1,249 MW.

According to a market source, “CLP India has submitted its bid to develop 250.8 MW of wind power projects and Avikaran Energy (Enel Green) has submitted the bid to set up 300 MW of wind power projects.”

When contacted, a SECI official confirmed that the tender had been undersubscribed but chose not to comment on the bidders.

SECI had tendered the capacity in June 2019 with a tariff cap of ₹2.85 (~$0.041)/kWh. The Tranche-VIII tender has suffered the same fate as the Tranche-VII wind tender by SECI.

In April 2019, Mercom reported that SECI’s tender for 1,200 MW of ISTS-connected wind power projects on a pan-India basis under tranche-VII was undersubscribed by 50%. SECI had tendered the capacity in February 2019. For this tender, SECI had set a tariff cap of ₹2.83 (~$0.041)/kWh.

When contacted, a few stakeholders reiterated that tariff caps are now becoming a deterrent in participation. Most of the premium areas for wind power generation have already been bought out or leased by the developers who emerged as winners in previous auctions. The current tariff caps and the resultant low bids will make the projects unviable for most of the project developers.

After SECI’s wind Tranche-VI auction, wind tenders have not garnered much interest from bidders and developers.

Previously, Mercom had reported about the four wind project developers that quoted the lowest tariff of ₹2.82 (~$0.040)/kWh in the auction held by SECI for 1,200 MW of ISTS-connected wind projects issued under Tranche-VI.

The 1.2 GW wind tender was oversubscribed by 1,125 MW, and bids totaling 2,325 MW were submitted by a total of nine participants.

Image credit: Enel Green Power