RTC Tender For 2.5 GW Thermal Plus Renewable Attracts L1 Bid of Rs 3.01

SECI’s auction for 2.5 GW of Round the Clock (RTC) supply of power from thermal plus renewable energy has attracted a strong response, with the lowest bid coming in at Rs 3.01/unit. The tender, floated in March 2020 for 5 GW, had been amended in August 2020 to enable easier participation for thermal players. By January this year, a further list of amendments included reducing the size of the offer to 2.5 GW.

Hindustan Thermal Projects emerged as the lowest bidder for a total of 250 MW, while Greenko Energies bid for 1001 MW at Rs 3.18/unit. Renew Samir Urja (Renew Power) at Rs 3.19 for 600 MW, Power Mech Projects at Rs 3.30 for 550 MW and finally JSW Neo at Rs 3.45/unit  for 99 MW rounded off the list of winners for the total capacity on offer of 2.5 GW.

Hindustan Thermal Projects winning bid for 250 MW might have created a piquant situation for the other bidders now, as they will need to match the bid price of Rs 3.01. While Hindustajn Thermal had bid and win for the 250 MW it wanted, the others had bid for much larger parcels, including JSW, which had actually placed a bid for 600 MW. With so much having changed on the renewable energy front in terms of costings, the only relief might be the drop in storage costs potentially.

Among the key amendments to enable higher participation and lower prices had been the provision to allow the location of generation and energy storage system (where required) to be sited at different locations, This had been a key demand from many industry players, particularly from East India.

The share of renewable energy in the capacity supplied by a developer has to be at least 51% of the total.

Designed to revive stressed thermal assets by combining their capacities with renewable energy or allow them to increase plant PLF, the tender provides for upto 24 months for bids till 1000 MW, and 30 months for bids greater than 1000 MW, indicating the expectation of using existing thermal projects.