Only half of India’s tendered 53 gigawatt (GW) solar power contracts are under construction, according to a JM Financial Institutional Securities Ltd report
State-owned giant NTPC’s renewable arm NTPC Renewable Energy announced that it has secured 325 megawatts (MW) solar projects to be set up at Shajapur Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh.
“NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NTPC REL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of NTPC, has emerged winner at the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd (RUMSL) auction for 450 MW of solar projects at the Shajapur Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh,” the company said in a clarification to the BSE.
As per the filing, the NTPC Renewables won a capacity of 105 MW and 220 MW quoting the lowest tariff of Rs 2.35 per kWh (or per unit), and Rs 2.33 per kWh respectively.
However, it said, “Considering the size and scale of operations of the company there is no material impact (of this auction results)…. on the company”.
Presently, the NTPC Group has an installed capacity of 66,875 MW and has set a target to install 60 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2032.
Only half of India’s tendered 53 gigawatts (GW) solar power contracts are under construction, according to a JM Financial Institutional Securities Ltd report. Dwindling clean power tariffs have been the main culprit for the slow growth.
“Discoms’ lag in signing PSAs stems from slow demand growth and falling solar tariffs, implying that the last to sign PSAs gets the cheapest power. However, we estimate 32GW of fresh PSA potential if all states meet their RPO (renewable purchase obligation) targets,” the report said.
The Indian government aims to achieve 227 GW of renewable energy by 2022, and an energy capacity of 523 GW by 2030.
