Busy week at SECI, with Tenders in Solar, Wind, Floating, Hybrid & Storage

India currently has a deficit of about 72 GW to reach its goal of installing 100GW of solar capacity and SECI, the organization responsible for coordinating India’s push for 100 GW of new solar capacity by 2022 has had a busy week as the month of March started

According to the Solar Energy Corporation of India website, it issued notices for tender relating to more than 6 GW of projects within 5 days. The overdrive is especially interesting as the country will start its election season in a few months.

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Between 27^th Feb to 1^st March following tenders were announced:

• 1 GW of grid-connected PV in India’s northeastern states: SECI invites online bids for Setting up of 1000 MW Grid-Connected Solar Power Projects in North-Eastern States including Sikkim, under JNNSM Phase-II, Batch-IV. The detailed Request for Selection Document (RfS) shall be available for downloading by 20.03.2019
• 2 GW of wind and solar hybrid schemes: SECI invites online bids for Setting up of 1200 MW ISTS Connected Wind-Solar Hybrid Power Projects (Tranche-II) on a pan India basis. The detailed Request for Selection Document (RfS) shall be available for downloading latest by 08.03.2019
• 2 GW of ISTS-connected solar projects: It invites online bids for Setting up of 1200 MW ISTS Connected Solar Power Projects (ISTS-IV) on a pan India basis. The detailed Request for Selection Document (RfS) shall be available for downloading latest by 08.03.2019
• 2 GW of ISTS projects alongside 3.6 GWh of storage: The solar nodal body invites online bids for Setting up of 1200 MW ISTS Connected Solar Power Projects with 3600 MWHr Storage (ISTS-V) on a pan India basis. The detailed Request for Selection Document (RfS) will be available for downloading latest by 08.03.2019
• 14 MW of solar plant capacity with 42 MWh storage – split evenly between the Leh and Kargil districts: SECI invites online bids for Setting up of Setting up of 14MW Solar Power Plant With 42MWh BESS (7MW/21MWh each At Leh and Kargil Divisions). The detailed Request for Selection Document (RfS) will be available for downloading latest by 15.03.2019
• 750 MW of grid-connected solar in Rajasthan: invites online bids for Setting up of 750 MW GRID Connected Solar Power Projects In Rajasthan(TRANCHE-II Non Solar Park). The detailed Request for Selection Document (RfS) will be available online by 19.03.2019
• 500 MW of grid-connected projects in Tamil Nadu: Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI) invites online bids for Setting up of 500 MW Grid-Connected Solar Power Projects in Tamil Nadu(Phase-1, Non Solar Park). The detailed Request for Selection Document (RfS) will be available by 15.03.2019
• 150 MW of floating solar in Jharkand: Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI) invites online bids for 100 MW Floating Solar Power Plant at the reservoir of Getalsud Dam, Ranchi, Jharkhand and 50 MW Floating Solar Power Plant at the Reservoir of Dhurwa Dam, Ranchi, Jharkhand. The detailed Request for Selection Document (RfS) will be available for downloading latest by 20.03.2019
• 250 MW of floating solar in Tamil Nadu: Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI) invites online bids for 250 MW Floating Solar PV Power Plant in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The detailed Request for Selection Document (RfS) along with list of Dams or Water Bodies will be available for downloading latest by 29.03.2019.

Read: NTPC in a Tender Flurry: To Open Floating Solar, PV Module Auctions

With tensions running high due to skirmishes between India-Pakistan, there is a notable tender of 2MW planned for Jammu & Kashmir including 1MW for Indian army post in Siachen which lies more than 18,000 ft above sea level and is the world’s highest battle field.

The sudden surge can find its root from the MNRE announcement in December which announced that the country intends to procure 60 GW of solar , 20 GW of wind by the end of FY 2019-20. Last year the numbers were dismal; the solar capacity stood at just over 28 GW and 17.65 GW of projects in the pipelines.

Tenders, as seen earlier, will not guarantee the sought capacity installation within the country. With policy changes and SECI’s procurement marred with lukewarm responses, auctions cancellations and price caps, it is left to be seen whether SECI will be able to attract the not-so-happy developers back. Ratings agencies like WoodMac, CRISIL and many other all have forecasted different figures but one, point to a short fall in a sizable increase in RE capacities across the table.