MSEDCL Discovers Price of Rs 9.0/kWh in 250 MW Solar with Storage Tender

The 250 MW solar project power purchase auction for the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) has concluded Ayana Renewables Power Private Limited (ARPPL) and NTPC Renewable Energy as the winners. MSEDCL’s decided opening tariff was 9.65/kWh, while the awarded capacity tariff was 9.0/kWh.

Ayana Renewables Power Private Ltd (ARPPL) and NTPC Renewable Energy, both bidders are awarded the capacity with similar quote.

150 MW capacity was awarded to ARPPL at a quote of Rs. 9.00/kWh. NTPC Renewable Energy requested for the entire 250 MW capacity at Rs. 9.00/kWh but was only given 100 MW at the same quote. 

Interestingly, Greenko, which had put in a bid for the full quantum of 250 MW, missed out with a bid at Rs 9.04/kWh. Greenko had recently won the full bid for 3000 MWh energy storage from NTPC.

The tender was floated in August of this year. For the projects selected as part of this tender, two-part tariffs will be offered. These will be referred to as “non-solar generation hours tariff” and “solar generation hours tariff.”

The tariff for the energy supplied during the solar generation hours would be Rs 2.42/kWh. The power purchase agreement’s (PPA) applicable tariff will include rates for both solar and non-solar generation hours. It will remain unchanged for the duration of the PPA. The winning bidders will be free to sell any excess generation during any contract year that exceeds 10% of the reported annual capacity utilisation factor to any other organisation, but MSEDCL will have the first refusal.

The winning bidder will receive energy charges at 75% of the rate if the energy supply during non-solar generation hours is greater than the specified quantity of 600 MWh for each 100 MW of contracted capacity and MSEDCL purchases this extra power. 

The scheduling of power throughout both solar and non-solar generation hours will be used to distribute the energy. During non-solar generation hours, it must provide the daily 600 MWh of energy per 100 MW contracted capacity of the facility. 

In addition to the capacity for solar, wind, or hydropower, the winning bidders may specify the kind and power rating of the energy storage system to be constructed. The energy storage facility may contain a mechanical and chemical system, a pumped storage system, a battery energy storage system, or any combination of these.

The project can be put in place in many blocks, each of which must be at least 50 MW. Anywhere in India is a viable location for the project. The energy storage and generation components of the project may have different locations and inject power through many interconnection points.

The developer of the renewable project will be in charge of establishing connectivity between the interstate transmission systems, delivering power to the interconnection point, and setting up the infrastructure for energy accounting.

From the last tender result, The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) discovered the best price of Rs 2.90/kWh for 100 MW out of the 500 MW it auctioned to secure 500 MW of long-term power from grid-connected intrastate solar projects. SolarArise was the lowest bidder, while state-owned SJVN Green Energy, and Tata Power subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy (TPREL) made up the remaining quantity. Both were awarded 200 MW each at their bid price of Rs 2.95 and Rs 2.97 respectively per kWh.