3rd Time Lucky? KREDL Tenders for 150 MW of Solar Projects in Pavagada

The Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) has re-tendered for the development of 150 MW of grid-connected solar projects at Pavagada Solar Park, located in Tumkur district of Karnataka.

Since January, the KREDL has issued tenders for the development of 1200 MW of solar capacity projects in the Pavagada solar park. With its first tender for the total of 1200 MW, the agency was able to auction only 550 MW of the tendered capacity due to poor response from bidders amid various ongoing uncertainties in the solar sector. After revisions and amendments made in the solar project guidelines and policies, KREDL re-tendered 650 MW in project capacity back in April, of which 500 MW was successfully awarded to Tata Power (250 MW) and Fortum (250 MW) back in the beginning of July (read that report). And now in its third attempt, the 150 MW that remained to be awarded has been tendered by KREDL.

The 150 MW worth of grid-connected projects will be developed in 3 blocks of 50 MW each. The winning bidders will sign the agreements under a build-own-operate basis and will be granted a period of 12 months to commission their projects. The generated power will be procured by the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited for a period of 25 years and the projects will be connected to Karnataka Solar Power Development Corporation Ltd (KSPDCL) substations. The maximum tariff payable to the project developer has been fixed at ₹2.93.

Karnataka’s Pavagada Solar Park, conceptualized in February 2015 began development in January 2016. The park in itself is no small feat, it spans over 13,000 acres and upon competition is expected to have a total combined capacity of over 2 GW, second only to the Dholera Solar Park in Gujarat which is expected to hold 5 GW of solar capacity projects(read the reports). To facilitate its development, the park has been divided into eight blocks of 250 MW each that will have dedicated high voltage supply lines, pooling stations, and a pooling substation for evacuation.

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