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					</table><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/nhpc-200-mw-solar-projects-gujarat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NHPC has invited bids for the engineering, procurement, and construction of 200 MW solar power projects at Khavda Renewable Energy Park in Gujarat.</a> The last date for the submission of bids is August 29, 2023. Bids will open on September 6. Bidders must submit an earnest money deposit of ₹92 million (~$1.1 million). The successful bidder must submit 3% of the project cost as performance security within 28 days of receiving the award notification.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/railways-empanelment-tender-3-69-mw-rooftop-projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Kota Division of West Central Railway invited bids to empanel agencies to install 3.69 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects</a> on a design, build, finance, operate, and transfer basis. The successful bidder must also oversee the project’s operation and maintenance for 25 years. The last date to submit the bids is August 10, 2023. Bids will be opened on the same day. Bidders must submit ₹1.068 million (~$13,015)/MW of the quoted capacity as an earnest money deposit.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/andhra-notifies-amendments-rpo-regulations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission notified the Renewable Power Purchase Obligation Compliance amendments by Purchase of Renewable Energy</a>/Renewable Energy Certificates Regulations, 2022. As per the amendments, the purchase of renewable energy by a captive open access consumer will be counted toward fulfilling their renewable purchase obligation. The amendments came into force on July 14, 2023.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/bids-1-75-mw-rooftop-solar-projects-jk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jammu &amp; Kashmir Energy Development Agency has invited bids to commission 1.75 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects on identified government buildings in the state.</a> The projects would be developed in two capacity ranges— more than 10 kW and up to 50 kW totaling 1 MW, and more than 50 kW and up to 750 kW totaling 750 kW. The select developer should also oversee the projects’ operation and maintenance for five years.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/eesl-tender-29-mw-polycrystalline-solar-modules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Energy Efficiency Services has invited bids for the supply of 28.72 MW of polycrystalline solar modules with a wattage output of 330 Wp and above for solar power projects in Maharashtra.</a> The last date to submit the bids is August 8, 2023. Bids will be opened on the same day. Bidders must submit ₹13.04 million (~$158,908) as an earnest money deposit. The modules must be delivered within three months from the award notification.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/tata-to-build-40-gw-battery-for-ev-energy-storage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tata Sons announced its plan to establish a global battery cell gigafactory in the United Kingdom with a capacity to produce 40 GW of cells annually.</a> The investment, exceeding £4 billion (~$4.4 billion), would help establish a large competitive green tech ecosystem, which is expected to revolutionize the electric mobility and renewable energy storage landscape in the UK and Europe.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/uaes-masdar-raises-750-million-green-bonds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company Masdar completed its inaugural green bond issuance, raising $750 million by issuing 10-year senior unsecured notes.</a> The offering received interest from regional and international investors, resulting in an oversubscription of 5.6 times the initial offering size, with the order book peaking at $4.2 billion. The bond’s pricing experienced a tightening of 35 basis points from its launch to the final terms, settling at a final landing spread of 115 basis points over the U.S. Treasuries and featuring a coupon rate of 4.875%.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/us-power-congestion-costs-20-8-billion-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Congestion costs in regional transmission organization regions, excluding the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) region, amounted to $12.1 billion in 2022.</a> Extrapolating these figures to include CAISO and the rest of the United States brings the total congestion costs to $20.8 billion, according to a report by power sector consulting firm Grid Strategies. The exponential growth in congestion costs is due to the frequent reliance on higher-cost thermal generators, as renewable energy sources are often curtailed due to insufficient transmission capacity.

Daily News Wrap-Up: NHPC’s Tender for 200 MW Solar Projects in Gujarat

The Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) has terminated its request for selection (RfS) issued for setting up 7,500 MW of grid-connected solar projects in Leh and Kargil (Jammu &amp; Kashmir).
A source from <a href="https://mercomindia.com/jammu-kashmir-solar-kargil-leh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SECI</a> told Mercom that the decision to terminate the tender came from the Union Government and clarified that the decision is not related to the bundling of tariffs. The tender never reached the auction stage.
The source added that a lot of ambiguity was generated over the floating of the tender, which required the developer to set up projects and a transmission network. Very few companies had the technical and financial ability to set up both transmission systems and solar projects.
The source added that as the two projects were being merged, the networth requirement had also gone up substantially.
Earlier, in a Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/indian-solar-market-update-developments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">webinar</a> in September 2020, to discuss and analyze the latest developments in India&#8217;s solar sector over the quarter, Shailesh Kumar Mishra, Director at SECI, had thrown light on the developments in Ladakh. Mishra had informed that the government had decided to separate the tender for transmission and project development and set up the transmission infrastructure ahead of the project development. This change was expected to bring in competitive tariffs. He added that the government has been working on this program with renewed focus.
A new tender is expected to be released exclusively for project development with the necessary changes in the eligibility criteria.
According to Mercom&#8217;s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/jammu-kashmir-solar-kargil-leh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India Solar Tender Tracker</a>, SECI has issued 37 MW of solar tenders for solar power projects in the Ladakh region.
In November 2018, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (<a href="https://mnre.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MNRE</a>) had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/jammu-kashmir-solar-kargil-leh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">launched</a> a plan to implement 23 GW of ultra-mega solar projects in the Leh and Ladakh regions of Jammu &amp; Kashmir.
Due to its <a href="https://mercomindia.com/leh-kargil-connected-national-grid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">challenging</a> landscape, most of the Ladakh region was not connected to the grid with the rest of the country. As a result, local small hydel and diesel generators met the power demand of the area. During winters, generation from hydro projects is reduced considerably, whereas power demand increases. In summers, hydel generation is at its highest, whereas demand is generally low.
Meanwhile, SECI had has <a href="https://mercomindia.com/seci-floats-tender-solar-leh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">floated</a> a tender for a 20 MW solar power project with a 50 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The project will be set up in Phyang, located in Leh district of the union territory of Ladakh. Interested bidders are not required to pay an earnest money deposit to participate in the tender. The last date for the submission of bids is February 10, 2021.

SECI Cancels Tender for 7.5 GW of Solar Projects in Leh and Kargil, To Issue a Fresh One

In another step to make energy access in difficult terrains of Jammu and Kashmir easier, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (<a href="http://seci.co.in/index.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SECI</a>) has issued a tender for setting up of 2 MW of solar power projects in the state. The two solar projects capacity of 1 MW each will be located at Indian Army posts in Siachen and in Partapur.
The Request for Selection (RfS) document will be available for downloading by March 29, 2019.
Earlier this month, SECI had issued a tender for setting up 15 kW of solar power projects with storage facility for one of the army posts at Siachen glacier.
In another notification, SECI has also extended the bid submission deadline of 97.5 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar PV projects from March 27, 2019, to April 11, 2019. The techno-commercial bids will open on April 12, 2019.
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/seci-rfs-grid-connected-rooftop-solar-975-mw/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recently</a>, SECI issued the RfS for the implementation of 97.5 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar PV projects for government buildings in different states and union territories under CAPEX or RESCO model.
The total capacity of 97.5 MW is divided into three categories. The first category is for 10 MW comprising of CAPEX Model (Part-A), the second is 85 MW consisting of RESCO Model (Part-B), and third is 2.5 MW comprising of CAPEX Model (Part-C). The ceiling tariff for general category states and union territories is ₹3.50($0.049)/kWh and for special category states and Islands is ₹3.50($0.049)/kWh.
According to Mercom India Research’s newly released <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/solarinstallations-q4-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Q4 &amp; Annual 2018 India Solar Market Update</a>, rooftop installations in 2018 totaled 1,655 MW a robust 66 percent year-over-year growth. Cumulative rooftop solar installations have reached 3,260 MW and still only make up 12 percent of the total solar installations in the country.
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/bid-deadline-extension-secis-3-gw-solar-tender/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This week,</a> SECI’s solar PV tender coupled with manufacturing component has also been extended again.  The agency has now extended the bid submission deadline to April 4, 2014, from March 18, 2019.
SECI had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/seci-new-tender-3-gw-solar-1-5-gw-manufacturing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued the new tender</a> to set up 3 GW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity linked to 1.5 GW of a solar manufacturing unit in January 2019.

SECI to Implement 2 MW of Solar Projects at Army Posts in J&K’s Siachen and Partapur

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