Tata Power RE, Three Other Firms Win GUVNL’s 750 MW Solar Project

The 750 MW grid-connected solar project power purchase auction for Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) has concluded Solarcraft Power India, Solairedirect Energy, Tata Power Renewable Energy, and Utkrrisht Solar Energy as the winners. 

Solairedirect won 200 MW at Rs. 2.50/kWh, and Solarcraft earned 120 MW with a quote of Rs. 2.49/KW. 300 MW at a quote of Rs. 2.65/kWh were won by Tata Power. 130 MW of the 280 MW stated capacity at Rs. 2.66/kWh were awarded to Utkrrisht Solar Energy. 

In GUVNL’s auction to develop 500 MW of solar projects with a greenshoe option of an extra capacity of up to 500 MW, the discovered tariff of Rs. 2.49/kWh is 8% more than the bid of Rs. 2.30/kWh (Phase XIV). The winners were Aditya Birla, SJVN, and Hinduja Renewables Energy. For 500 MW of solar projects, the GUVNL solar auction’s lowest price ever found was Rs. 1.99/kWh in December 2020. (Phase XI). Torrent Power, Aditya Renewables, Al Jomaih Energy and Water Company, and NTPC all provided quotes for this rate.

Tender Inviting Agency		Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL)
Technology Type/Tranche		Solar/P-XVI
Tendered Capacity		750 MW + 750 MW (Under Green Shoe Option)
Date of e-Reverse Auction		19.09.2022
Opening L1 Tariff (INR/kWh)		2.49
S.No.	Name of Bidder	Bid Capacity (MW)	Awarded Capacity (MW)	Final Tariff (INR/kWh)
1	Solarcraft Power India 2 Private Limited (Blupine Energy)	120	120	2.49
2	Solairedirect Energy India Private Limited (Engie)	200	200	2.5
3	Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited	300	300	2.65
4	Utkrrisht Solar Energy Private Limited (UPC Renewables)	280	130	2.66
5	TEQ Green Power XIV Private Limited (O2 Power)	100	–	2.68 6
6	SJVN Green Energy Limited	100	–	2.72
7	Avaada Energy Private Limited	300	–	2.73
8	Sprng Akshaya Urja Private Limited	200	–	2.77
9	E17Coal India Limited	250	–	2.87

To meet its renewable power purchase obligation (RPPO) and the demands of distribution businesses, GUVNL aims to purchase solar energy (DISCOMs). In this year’s July, the tender was released. 

To minimise the technical risk and ensure that the projects are timely completed, the tender stipulated that only commercially established and functional technologies could be employed. Participation in the tender was also open to projects that were in the building phase but lacked a PPA with a current customer.

If there is spare capacity for the integration of renewable energy at the associated Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO) substation, solar projects may be installed in the existing wind farms that are already wired into the grid. The project should have a 25 MW minimum capacity. 

Energy delivery at the GETCO peripheral should be a goal of the project. A dedicated line or a pooled substation of an existing wind farm can be used to directly connect the project’s grid to the state transmission utility (STU) or the central transmission utility (CTU) substation.

Recently, Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL)  also invited a request for proposals for 500 MW of power supply on a short-term basis through tariff based competitive bidding process.