Tariff of Solar auction for 1 GW in Maharashtra remained unchanged from the one conducted eight months ago. Mostly homegrown developers participated in the auction.
Shiv Solar bagged 50MW, while Acme Solar won 300MW at the lowest winning tariff of Rs 2.74 per unit, on the other hand ReNew Power and Avaada Energy won 300MW and 350MW respectively at a tariff of Rs 2.75 per unit.
A developer speaking to ET on condition of anonymity said “Lower tariffs were in any case not justified as all kinds of costs are going up,” he added “Prices should rise, but the moment they do, states have been cancelling the auction itself. So developers have stayed close to the old price.”
Last year in May in the winning tariffs had been Rs 2.71-2.72 per unit at solar auction held by Maharashtra.
Unique feature of the latest Maharashtra solar auction is that projects can be set up anywhere in the country but power has to be transmitted to Maharashtra, i.e the winning companies may build their project in states with higher radiation like Rajasthan and send the power to Maharashtra, which is perhaps why the developers have quoted low tariffs.
Recently Gujarat government cancelled the 700 MW solar auction. The state government cancelled the auction that was held in December last year on the grounds that the winning tariffs were too high; it is also seen as one of the factor for the unchanged solar tariff in Maharashtra. The entire 700 MW solar auctions was won by foreign players, SB Energy bagged 250 MW at Rs 2.84 per unit, while Fortum and Engie bagged 250 MW and 200 MW respectively at Rs 2.89 per unit.
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