TP Saurya, a Tata Power subsidiary, was declared the winner in the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company’s (MAHAGENCO) auction for setting up 250 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic projects at the Dondaicha Solar Park in Dhule, Maharashtra.

SJVN and NTPC Renewable Energy also participated in the bidding process and quoted ₹2.53 (~$0.034)/kWh and ₹2.82 (~$0.038)/kWh, respectively.

TP Saurya won the full capacity of 250 MW by quoting ₹2.51 (~$0.033)/kWh.

In January this year, MAHGENCO had invited bids from solar power developers for setting up 250 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic projects at the Dondaicha Solar Park in Dhule, Maharashtra. The deadline for bid submission was February 15, 2021. The tender had specified a ceiling tariff of ₹2.83 (~$0.038)/kWh, valid for 25 years.

The project is expected to cost ₹8.75 billion (~$11.8 million) and must be commissioned within 15 months from the power purchase agreement (PPA) date. It must also achieve financial closure within nine months from the date of the power purchase agreement (PPA). The project will be divided into three blocks – Block I (75 MW), Block-II (125 MW), and Block III (50 MW).

Bidders were expected to place a single bid for the entire 250 MW of projects. The declared annual capacity utilization factor (CUF) for the projects had to be not less than 19%. Developers are expected to maintain generation within a range of 10% over or 15% lower than the declared annual CUF. MAHAGENCO said it would purchase any excess generation at 75% of the tariff agreed upon in the PPA.

In July of 2020, Tata Power announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tata Power Green Energy Limited (TPGEL), received a letter of award (LoA) to develop a 225 MW hybrid renewable power project.

Earlier in 2019, in the auction for 500 MW of solar projects conducted by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, Juniper Green Energy had emerged as the lowest bidder. Juniper Green had won 150 MW of solar projects in the auction at a tariff of ₹2.89 ($0.0407)/kWh. MAHAGENCO had bagged the remaining 350 MW at a tariff of ₹2.90 ($0.0409)/kWh through the bucket filling method.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, Maharashtra currently has 1.8 GW of large-scale solar projects in operation, while around 1.5 GW of projects is under different stages of development as of December 2020.