Indian solar PV auction space is getting competitive by the day with tariffs going down at a record speed. In less than a month tariffs here have gone down to INR 1.99 per kWh ($0.027); that’s even a little lower than the INR 2.00 per kWh witnessed in the 1.07 GW solar auction for Rajasthan in late November 2020 (see New Record Solar Tariff In India @ INR 2.00/kWh).

The latest auction results come for the 500 MW Gujarat Urja Vikas Limited (GUVNL) phase XI auction that was launched in September 2020 (see 500 MW Phase XI Solar tender Launched By GUVNL).

According to Mercom India Research, 4 companies offered the same low tariff of INR 1.99 per kWh to stake claim to the 500 MW capacity. These are National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for 200 MW, Torrent Power Limited for 100 MW, Al Jomaih Energy and Water Company Limited for 80 MW and Aditya Renewables for 120 MW under the bucket filling method.

Successful bidders will enter a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 25 years with GUVNL that launched the tender as part of its renewable power purchase obligation (RPPO). It was open to projects under construction, those not yet commissioned and those already commissioned but without any long term PPA with any agency. Eligible projects will be allowed to be set up in an existing grid connected wind farm, provided there is spare capacity for renewable energy integration at the nearest substation.

Saudi Arabia’s Al Jomaih Energy and Water Company along with Singapore’s Sembcorp subsidiary Green Infra Wind Energy Limited were reported as the companies that offered INR 2.00 per kWh as the lowest tariff in the 1.07 GW Rajasthan auction last month.

Globally the lowest solar bid to date was determined for the 2^nd solar auction of Portugal in August 2020 with €0.01114 per kWh which back then in dollar terms translated to $0.013 per kWh (see Portugal Officially Confirms World’s Lowest Solar Bid).