• ReNew Power Ventures has won 49 MW in a solar rooftop tender of the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)
  • SECI had floated tenders for 500 MW rooftop capacity in April 2016
  • This 500 MW capacity is meant to come up on residential as well as institutional buildings

ReNew Power Ventures Pvt. Ltd. has won 49 MW rooftop PV capacity in a tender floated by the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) for 500 MW of rooftop solar capacity (see Largest Indian Rooftop Tender).

The number of projects won is apparently the highest number won by any company in this tender, or the tenth of the entire bid capacity, according to ReNew, an Independent power producer (IPP) from India .

SECI floated this tender in April 2016, the largest offered by the organization in the rooftop category. Previously, it had allocated 42.75 of rooftop capacity for bids going as high as $0.10 per kWh (see SECI Allocates 42.75 MW Of Rooftop Capacity).

For the 500 MW tender, which was divided into the so-called CAPEX and RESCO models under three parts, SECI received bids totaling 602 MW. ReNew apparently applied for all three categories.

SECI received 602 MW of total bids for the tender (see 602 MW Bids Received For SECI Rooftop Tender). Business daily The Economic Times (ET) reported that a total of 130 bidders participated in the SECI tender. It quoted Prabhat Kumar Mishra, head distributed solar & offtake at ReNew as saying, “We are currently riding a growth wave and supplying renewable energy to more than 50 large industrial and commercial consumers across the country. This scheme will give a significant thrust to our business, especially to the distributed solar segment, which is now becoming a key focus area for the organization.”

The rooftop capacity offered by SECI is set to come up on residential and institutional buildings as schools, colleges, universities, and the like.

Headed by Sumant Sinha, ReNew is backed by investors, including Goldman Sachs, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Asian Development Bank and Global Environment Fund. It has around 3,000 MW of clean energy capacity across the country that is either commissioned or under-construction. The company reportedly has an existing pipeline of 100 MW in the distributed solar segment.

In November 2016, ReNew secured $74 million from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) for a 100 MW solar power project in Telangana (see US Support For 100 MW PV In India).