The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has published the request for selection (RFS) documents for the 1.2 GW interstate transmission system (ISTS) VIII solar power tender it initially announced in early December 2019 (see 2.4 GW Solar Wind Tenders Launched By SECI).

SECI will enter power purchase agreements (PPA) with the winners who will be required to set up the capacity on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis.

Pre-bid meeting for interested companies is scheduled for January 15, 2020 while the last date to submit bids is February 4, 2020. Details of the tender can be found on SECI’s website.  

EOI for RE blending

In the last week of December 2019, SECI issued an expression of interest (EOI) seeking generators of hydropower, pumped storage, gas, battery storage and thermal generating stations comprising group captive plants, to supply power to SECI which it will blend with wind, solar and wind and solar hybrid power.

This is aimed at making the power available round-the-clock (RTC) to meet base load requirements of various discoms and commercial & industrial (C&I) consumers, while expanding renewable energy penetration. It will also help C&I consumers with captive power plants to meet their renewable purchase obligation (RPO) requirements by purchasing renewable energy through long or medium term open access.

SECI will enter PPAs with other generators at a tariff determined through a competitive tender procedure for 1 year to 25 year duration.

Through the EOI, SECI says it will be able to prepare the tender for procurement of power from other generators to balance the renewable energy purchased by it and to supply firm power to its customers. Submissions to this EOI call will be accepted till January 31, 2020.

Separately, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is also seeking feedback on its draft scheme to supply RTC power from renewable energy to be bundled with coal power (see India Issues Draft For RTC Power From RE Projects). 

SECI auctions 1.14 GW under CPSU Ph-II round

In another related news from SECI, the agency has completed the a 1.5 GW of solar power auction under Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) Phase-II, Tranche-II through viability gap funding (VGF).

Mercom India Research reports SECI auctioned 1,104 MW of the total after receiving bids for 1,381 MW. As per tender rules only 80% of the capacity should be awarded in the event of undersubscription.

The tender was launched in August 2019 (see 1.5 GW CPSU Ph-II Solar Tender Launched By SECI).

Singareni Collieries Company Limited won 81 MW quoting the lowest VGF of INR 6.8 million ($95,492) per MW, followed by Indore Municipal Corporation winning 100 MW for INR 6.9 million ($96,616) per MW and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) secured 923 MW as against 1,104 MW it bid for at the highest VGF of INR 7 million ($98,301) per MW.

NTPC is already seeking bids for EPC contractors to build this 923 MW capacity (see NTPC Tender For 923 MW Solar Under CPSU Ph II).

Along with Singareni Collieries, this is the second SECI CPSU Phase-II tender that NTPC has won. Previously both the companies took 90 MW and 769.4 MW in the Tranche-I auction (see NTPC Wins Bid In 2 GW SECI CPSU Phase-II Auction).