India Releases Bidding Trajectory For RE

• MNRE has come out with a bidding trajectory for renewable energy projects in India
• It has instructed 50 GW to be tendered annually from FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28, including 10 GW wind energy
• Projects tendered could either be technology specific like solar, wind, or a mix of both, and RTC among others

To meet its 2030 target of 500 GW non-fossil fuel installed power generation capacity, India plans to issue renewable energy bidding rounds for a total of 50 GW annually, starting from FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28, reserving a minimum 10 GW for wind energy projects.

Renewable energy implementing agencies (REIA) have been instructed to start with launching bids for 50 GW in FY 2023-24 to be spread out as:

• at least 15 GW in Q1 (April to June)
• at least 15 GW in Q2 (July to September)
• at least 10 GW in Q3 (October to December),
• at least 10 GW in Q4 (January to March).

This may comprise vanilla solar, vanilla wind, solar-wind hybrid, round-the-clock (RTC) renewable energy power, or any other combination as needed.

REIA's will be given year-wise targets by the government that they need to float under relevant standard bidding guidelines. "To avoid concurrent bids, Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies may issue bids in coordination with other Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies," instructs the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in the bidding trajectory notice.

While India has already missed its 100 GW solar capacity target which was to be achieved by December 31, 2022, various regulatory policies and Basic Customs Duty (BCD) have negatively impacted the pace of solar installations in the country. Having a bidding trajectory from the MNRE should help with long-term investment visibility to the market and increase installation rate by 2030.

At the end of February 2023, India had installed 168.96 GW renewable energy capacity, comprising 64.38 GW solar power, as per the ministry. It has 82.62 GW under implementation and another 40.89 GW under tendering process.