India has increased the pace of its solar activity having tendered 834 MW of PV capacity in October 2016. This is an increase of over 100% from September 2016 when 415 MW was tendered.
Clean energy consultancy and research firm Mercom Capital Group says that out of 834 MW, at least 500 MW was tendered by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) alone. NTPC re-tendered 250 MW capacity for its solar power project at the Kadapa Solar Park in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. This capacity is part of the National Solar Mission (NSM) Phase-II, Batch-II, Tranche-I. With this capacity tendered by state run electricity provider, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Tranche-I will be complete.
The NTPC has the task of setting up 15,000 MW of PV capacity under the NSM. It is divided into three tranches. Tranche-I had 3,000 MW capacity under the mechanism of bundling PV with unallocated coal based thermal power and fixed levelized tariffs. After assessing Tranche-I, another 5,000 MW will come up in Tranche-II; here it still needs to be decided if there will be government incentives. The third and final phase will tender 7,000 MW, which will be without any government support.
Apart from the 250 MW, NTPC also tendered 25 MW capacity in Andaman & Nicobar Islands for its self-owned projects, as well as a 3.5 MW project solar plus wind hybrid project.
According to Mercom, another 50 MW was tendered by another state entity, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation in Tamil Nadu.
The implementing agency for the NSM in India, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) too tendered a 5.76 MW of grid connected rooftop project for Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL).
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