1.2GW wind tender in India flops as bids run dry

This is the fourth time in a row that SECI failed to get enough offers for the tender process.

The latest tender held by the state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for developing 1.2 GW of wind power has failed to attract investors, receiving an insufficient number of bids to continue the process. The public agency launched the tender on 17 January 2020, with a ceiling tariff of INR2.93/kWh (US$4c/kWh) that had earlier been raised from INR2.85/kWh to encourage participation. The ceiling tariff had earlier been revised from Rs 2.85 per unit to Rs 2.93 in an attempt to encourage participation. The projects can be located in any part of India and will be linked to the interstate transmission system to supply power.

This is the fourth time in a row that SECI fails to get enough offers for the tender process to continue. State-owned power producer NTPC is also facing difficulties in issuing wind tenders: in 2018, many developers withdrew from the tenders, and the group failed to receive any response from developers in a 1.2 GW wind tender held in late 2019. Wind project developers are weighing ceiling tariffs and difficulties to secure suitable land and to access to power transmission infrastructure before bidding for wind projects.

This article was originally published by Enerdata.