The tender issued by Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI) to set up 1,200 MW of ISTS-connected solar-wind hybrid power projects (tranche-II) has been undersubscribed by 300 MW.

According to a SECI official, “Two companies have submitted bids totaling 900 MW.”

According to a market source, “Adani Green Energy has submitted bids to develop 600 MW of solar wind hybrid projects and ReNew Power has submitted bids to develop 300 MW.”

SECI had issued the tender for setting up 1,200 MW of solar-wind hybrid power projects in February 2018, but the detailed request for selection was made available for download only from March 8, 2019.

Before this, India’s first mega tender to set up 1.2 GW of ISTS-connected wind-solar hybrid power projects under tranche-I by SECI was also left undersubscribed by 150 MW.

According to the market source, “In this tender as well, the SECI had fixed ₹2.70 (~$ 0.038/kWh) as the ceiling tariff and due to that, the bidders have stayed away. Implementing agencies need to understand that tariff cap doesn’t make anything viable.”

In December 2018, in the first mega solar-wind hybrid auction conducted in the country, SB Energy emerged as the L1 bidder by quoting a tariff of ₹2.67 (~$0.03794)/kWh. For this tender, the ceiling tariff had been fixed at ₹2.70 (~$ 0.038/kWh). SECI had initially tendered 2,500 MW of ISTS-connected wind-solar hybrid power projects (tranche-I). Later, the capacity of ISTS-connected wind-solar hybrid power project was reduced to 1,200 MW. Since the tender was undersubscribed by 150 MW, SECI auctioned only 80 percent of the bid capacity (1,050 MW), which is 840 MW.

Last year, the MNRE came out with a new wind solar hybrid policy aimed at providing a framework for the expansion of grid-connected hybrid systems in the country.

Image credit: Vestas