India's Adani Green Energy quotes lowest tariff in 1.2GW solar-wind hybrid auction

The tender was undersubscribed by 300MW as bidders stayed away from its large tariff cap.

Indian solar power generation and manufacturing firm Adani Green Energy came out as the lowest bidder in a February auction conducted by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for 1.2GW of inter-state transmission system (ISTS) connected solar-wind hybrid power projects under Tranche II, a report by Mercom India revealed.

Adani Green Energy reportedly quoted a tariff of approximately $0.0387 (INR2.69)/kWh to set up 600MW of solar-wind hybrid projects. Meanwhile, the report quoted a SECI official citing how ReNew Power applied for a tariff of around $0.0389 (INR2.70)/kWh to set up 300MW, but will be awarded 120MW.

Also read: SECI's tender for 1.2GW of wind in India flops

The report also noted that the tender had been undersubscribed by 300MW as bidders stayed away from the tender because of the aggressive tariff cap, with $0.0389 (INR2.70)/kWh fixed as the ceiling tariff.

“As a result, 80% of the capacity that has been bid for will be awarded. In this case, it is 720MW,” the report explained.

In December 2018, the country’s first solar-wind hybrid tender also failed to garner much interest from bidders due to the tariff cap put by SECI. The tender was originally at 2,500MW of ISTS-connected wind-solar hybrid power projects and then reduced to 1,200MW. The tender was undersubscribed by 150MW, forcing SECI to auction only 80% of the capacity at 840MW.