The lowest bidder in NTPC Ltd.’s tender for setting up 500 MW capacity solar PV power projects in Ghani Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh, has quoted a tariff of Rs. 4.63 per unit. This was stated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.
The Minister stated that as per the tariff order notified by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for the year 2015-16, the tariff for solar power generated from grid connected solar PV power plants, which is the levellised tariff for 25 years, is Rs. 7.04 per unit. Previous lowest tariff for grid connected solar PV power in the country was Rs. 5.05 for solar power projects in Madhya Pradesh. The lowest bid tariff of Rs. 4.63 per unit in NTPC Ltd.’s tender for setting up 500 MW capacity solar PV power projects in Ghani Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh is 34.23 % lower than the CERC tariff and 8.32 % lower than the previous low bid of Rs. 5.05 per unit for solar power tender in Madhya Pradesh.
The Minister further stated that it is difficult to predict tariff that will be quoted in an open bid. Moreover, solar tariff varies from State to State depending upon solar irradiation, cost of land, size of projects and other such factors. The target of 175 GW of renewable energy generation capacity is for 2022 and the Government of India is making all efforts to achieve the same.
