SECI Discovers Rs 3.41 Price In 1200 MW Solar Plus ESS Tender

SECI’s 1200 MW Solar with 1200 MWh BESS tender, floated in March this year, turned up a surprise in terms of the price discovery of Rs 3.41 per unit from the winning bidder, Pace Digitek Infra Private Limited.

This price discovery matches and in some cases beats the recent price discoveries from plain vanilla RE hybrid tenders and is almost at a discount of 1 rupee when considered with peak power tenders. This was the first Solar + BESS tender under BOO mode which was successfully bid for. While Pace won 100 MW with a bid of Rs 3.41/unit, JSW Neo Energy won 500 MW with a bid at Rs 3.42 , followed by Acme Solar with a 350 MW win, and Hero Solar with 250 MW, also at Rs 3.42. For JSW Energy, the win marke yet another major addition to their green storage portfolio.

The tariff discovery is the lowest ever for a Solar + Storage tender, especially one with ESS sizing of at least 0.5 or 600 MWh. Its testimony to the lower module prices seen in recent months as well as falling ESS prices, both of which are expected to remain low as the bidders move to the next stage.

The low prices also augur well for faster renewables additions as lower storage costs will ensure momentum is maintained on solar additions. Watchers in the C&I segment, even while knowing that final prices will be higher, will also be thrilled as prices in 2025-26 are definitely going to be lower than those from just a few months ago.

Post the signing of the PPA for 25 years as per tender conditions, winning bidders will have 24 months to set up their projects in any part of India. Most of the bidders here have shown a marked preference for Rajasthan in most of their projects till date.

This was the first Solar + BESS tender under BOO mode which was successfully bid for.  Min annual CUF is 17% (10% to -15% range for 1st 10 yrs, thereafter 10% to -20% till 25th year).  ESS Discharge has been set at 2 hours in a day (one cycle), to be informed to developer on a day ahead basis by DISCOM as per requirement. Part commissioning is allowed, min capacity 50 MW.

For the little known Pace Digitek Infra, the win marks a major move for its solar ambitions. The Bengaluru based firm has been an OEM supplier and O&M firm to optos and telecom tower firms till now, with a recent foray into Solar.