India restarts tendering for renewable energy + energy storage projects

Solar Energy Corporation of India has again tried the tender
for renewable energy + energy storage projects.
This time, the agency issued a tender with special terms that could result in lower offers and attractive purchase rates
for buyers.

Specifically, Solar Energy India provided a tender
for a 1.
2 GW renewable energy + energy storage project for developers.
Depending on the tender conditions, developers can set up wind, solar or hybrid projects, any of which should be between 50-300 MW, while group companies can bid for projects
with a maximum capacity of 600 MW.

The tender is issued in accordance with central government policy and is part of the interstate transmission system planning, allowing bidders to choose their own sites for construction
.
Solar Energy Corporation of India will look for power distribution companies interested in purchasing electricity from these renewable energy + energy storage projects, and then enter into long-term power purchase agreements with them for up to 25 years
.

While SECI and some other states also tried renewable energy + energy storage tenders earlier, none of the states had any substantial success
.
Solar Energy India's previous large-scale tenders did not see financing tenders after the tenders
were not fully subscribed or the potential financing bid was too high to make it attractive to distribution companies.

At that time, Solar Power Corporation of India provided tenders
for energy storage projects totaling 300 MW at two solar power plants.
However, it was eventually cancelled
due to the lack of financing tenders.

The Indian government seems to have learned from its mistakes this time and is now expanding the range
of energy storage technologies available to project developers.
This new tender allows project developers to use any energy storage technology, including battery energy storage systems, pumped storage systems, mechanical and chemical systems, or combined energy storage systems
.

Two months ago, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy asked project developers to come up with proposals
for gravity energy storage projects.
Project developers may consider pumped storage or mechanical energy storage technologies to keep operating
at low costs.

Indian company Greenko Energy Holdings is developing two pumped storage projects
in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Each project should install 2 gigawatts of wind power and 2 gigawatts of solar capacity
.

A key clause that SECI first included in the tender was about allocating capacity
based on the energy tax rate offered by developers during peak hours.
Developers should provide a fixed electricity rate of INR 2.
70/kWh during off-peak hours, i.
e.
between 9am and 6pm and midnight to 6am; 300 MWh of electricity
per 100 MW capacity during peak hours from 6 p.
m.
to midnight and 6 a.
m.
to 9 p.
m.

The developer shall commence construction of the project within 18 months from the date of signing the power purchase agreement, and complete the construction and put into operation
within a maximum of 24 months.
In some cases, if the developer cannot put into operation in accordance with the above regulations due to problems in the transmission infrastructure, then the developer will not be penalized
.