GUVNL Auctions 250 MW Of 1 GW Solar Tender

• GUVNL has announced the results for its 1 GW Dholera Solar Park Tender Phase V
• Lowest bid received was INR 2.75 ($0.0392) per kWh which was also the benchmark tariff fixed by GUVNL
• Both GIPCL and Tata Power quoted the benchmark tariff for their projects and were awarded 50 MW and 200 MW, respectively, according to Mercom

Having received lukewarm response to its 1 GW Dholera Solar Park (Phase V) tender launched in January 2019, the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited has auctioned now a mere 250 MW of the total (see GUVNL Issues RFS For 1 GW Dholera Solar Project). According to Mercom India Research, state entity Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited (GIPCL) won 50 MW by offering the  lowest bid of INR 2.75 ($0.0392) per kWh.

Another winner is Tata Power that bid for 250 MW but won 200 MW quoting the same tariff as GIPCL. GUVNL received interest for only 300 MW out of 1 GW offered, which it finally rounded off to 250 MW.

This tariff is higher than the lowest bid of INR 2.65 ($0.0380) per kWh GUVNL recently reported for the 700 MW Raghanesda Solar Park which was also undersubscribed by 100 MW (see INR 2.65/kWh Lowest Tariff For 700 MW Gujarat Tender).

According to Mercom, the upper ceiling tariff for this tender was INR 2.75 ($0.0392) per kWh.

This is one of the big tenders in India that have of late attracted unenthusiastic response from project developers. Another big tender that has received several deadline extensions and capacity reduction is the Solar Energy Corporation of India's (SECI) manufacturing linked capacity development tender for which it has been struggling to entice developers to participate (see SECI Launches Fresh Manufacturing Linked Tender). As per Bloomberg, the government is now considering a new tender to develop solar power equipment manufacturing sans power generation capacity development while also throwing in state financial aid as an attraction.