The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has launched a request for selection (RFS) round for 400 MW hybrid wind and solar power projects tender with interstate transmission system (ISTS) connectivity in India, under tranche-IX.

Projects under this tender can be located anywhere in India on build-own-operate (BOO) basis. Winners will need to set up the projects along with the transmission network up to the interconnection/delivery point.

Land identification and securing necessary approvals are within the ambit of the hybrid power developers (HPD). SECI will enter offtake power from the winning projects to be further sold to different buying entities in the country. Details of the buying entities will be released at a later date.

A company can submit a single bid with a minimum 50 MW capacity. The total contracted capacity to be allocated to a bidder will be up to 600 MW.

SECI launched the RFS for this capacity on June 28, 2024, and will accept bids till July 29, 2024. Details of the tender are available on SECI’s website.

Recently, SECI also launched a standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) tender with 1,000 MW/2,000 MWh capacity under tariff-based global competitive bidding.

It claims to have receive interest from prospective buying entities across the country to utilize energy storage systems on an on-demand basis for their peak and off-peak hour requirements. To cater to this demand, the tender was launched.

Winners will be expected to set up the BESS on BOO basis. SECI will enter into Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA) with them.

The BESS tender was launched on June 26, 2024 with the last date of bid submission being August 5, 2024, according to the tender call.   

According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) of India, the country will need 41,650 MW/208,250 MWh of installed BESS capacity in 2029-30 to help with growing renewable energy capacity. It will be in addition to 18,986 MW of pumped hydro storage system capacity.