Acme Bids lowest tariff of 2.59 for NTPC’s 2GW Project

In the auction held by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to develop 2 GW of interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, Lowest tariff of Rs 2.59 /kWh was quoted by three companies.

ACME Solar quoted the lowest (L1) tariff of Rs 2.59/kWh to develop 600 MW. Shapoorji Pallonji and Azure Power, reportedly, matched the L1 tariff to develop 500 MW and 300 MW.

SB Energy, which had placed the bid for 2000 MW*, managed to win only 600 MW at a bid of 2.60/kWh.

The bidding continues to be aggressively followed by companies even after the imposition of Safeguard Duty. This creates an issue for smaller companies who may find the current bid too low to compete. Many industry players were concerned about the sheer size of the tender and its requirements for bidding which could prohibit the entry of small enterprises.

Following the imposition of safeguard duty, in a positive development for the developers, NTPC had provided bidders until August 13, 2018, to revise and resubmit their bids for the 2 GW interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) tender.

NTPC’s 2 GW ISTS-connected solar PV tender was oversubscribed three times over. Bids amounting to 6,200 MW were submitted in response to the tender.