India Approves 14 MW PV+42 MWh Storage Project

• Leh and Kargil districts of Indian state Jammu & Kashmir will have 7 MW of solar PV and 21 MWh of energy storage capacity each to be developed by companies selected through competitive tender proceedings
• Projects will be supported by VGF and will need to be deployed for a fixed tariff of INR 2.00 ($0.028) per kWh
• Renewable energy development agencies of Ladakh and Kargil will provide land for these projects and winners will enter PPA with Power Development Department
• SECI will conduct auction to select winners to set up the projects under developer mode on build-own-operate basis

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has received green light from the President of the country to go ahead with a scheme of setting up a 14 MW solar PV project with 42 MWh of aggregate battery storage capacity in Leh and Kargil regions of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

To be developed under the Prime Minister Development Package (PMDP) 2015 for J&K, the capacity will be divided equally among the 2 regions, i.e. 7 MW PV and 21 MWh of storage each for Leh and Kargil. These projects will be spread across the two districts with Ladakh Renewable Energy Development Agency (LREDA) and Kargil Renewable Energy Development Agency (KREDA) arranging land.

Projects commissioned will be eligible for viability gap funding (VGF), and hence these will be implemented in developer mode with a fixed tariff of INR 2.00 ($0.028) per kWh. Through competitive bidding, parts of the VGF will be determined. For the commissioned capacity, developers can expect a maximum of INR 1.82 billion ($25.4 million) as VGF support.

The upper limit of VGF for a 1 MW solar PV project with 3 MWh of battery storage will be INR 130 million ($1.81 million).

As project management consultant, SECI will conduct the tendering process for projects to be installed in the developer mode as build-own-operate basis. The winning bidders will also be responsible for operation and maintenance of the projects. Winners will sign power purchase agreement with the state's Power Development Department (PDD).

Project commissioning deadline is 18 months as the entire capacity needs to be added during 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Back in July 2017, SECI had issued a tender inviting bids for 14 MW of solar PV and 42 MWh of energy storage capacity for Leh and Kargil on behalf of LREDA and KREDA (see SECI Issues PV Plus Energy Storage Tender).

Most recently, in December 2018. SECI launched a request for selection for 7.5 GW grid connected solar power capacity to be developed in Leh and Kargil district, under the overarching plan to deploy 23 GW PV in Jammu & Kashmir (see SECI Exits 2018 With Several GW PV Tenders).