Uttar Pradesh has announced a tender for 500 MW of grid-connected solar projects. The upper tariff ceiling is ₹3.05 (~$0.043)/kWh and the bid-submission deadline is February 14, 2019, according to the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA).

A single bidder must bid for a minimum of 5 MW and can bid for a maximum of 500 MW. This is a global tender and the projects will be developed on a ‘build own operate’ basis.

The scope of work includes the design, supply, construction, procurement, installation, testing, and commissioning of the project.

“The developers can choose to develop the projects at a single location or at multiple locations, depending on their convenience and land availability,” a UPNEDA official told Mercom.

UPNEDA has revised the ceiling tariff by five paise (~$0.00071)/kWh when compared to the previous ceiling tariff of ₹3.10 (~$0.0424)/kWh in the 550 MW tender issued by UPNEDA back in October 2018. UPNEDA had sought approval of ceiling tariff of ₹3.25 (~$0.044)/kWh for this tender along with the revised RfP and PPA. Upper tariff ceiling was set to be ₹3.25 (~$0.044)/kWh if safeguard duty was included, and if not included, the tariff ceiling was to be ₹3.10 (~$0.0424)/kWh. In that auction, ₹3.02 (~$0.04306)/kWh was the lowest tariff quoted.

Looking back at the past few auctions in Uttar Pradesh, there has been a decrease of 4.7 percent in solar tariffs quoted in successive auctions. In December 2017, Uttar Pradesh government finalized the state’s solar policy and set a target of 10,700 MW for solar power, including 4,300 MW from rooftop solar projects, by FY 2022.

The UPERC also amended its Captive and Renewable Energy Generating Projects (CRE) Regulations 2014 with changes that are expected to reduce the cost of solar power procured from standalone projects in the state. Then in July 2018, UPNEDA issued draft guidelines for setting up private solar park in the state.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, the state of Uttar Pradesh has ~865 MW of commissioned solar projects while ~1.3 GW of projects are currently in the pipeline.

Image credit: Azure Power