India Gears Up for 750 Megawatts of Solar Photovoltaic Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) (New Delhi) is set to open bidding for 750 megawatts (MW) in solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, under the first tranche of the country's National Solar Mission, Phase-II. The Request for Selection (RfS)-document is due to be released on October 24, 2013. The selection of developers would be done via tariff-based competitive bidding route.

According to MNRE, the ministry is in the process of taking feedback from various stakeholders for finalization of the Guidelines for implementation of Grid-Connected Solar PV Projects under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar (JNNSM), Phase-II. The RfS will be finalized after the issuance of final Guidelines by MNRE.

To incentivize setting up of a large number of Solar Power Projects and to minimize the impact of tariff on the distribution companies, MNRE has offered various sops such as Bundling Scheme, Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme and Generation Based Incentive (GBI) Scheme. Phase-I projects were largely based on the option of Bundling Scheme and on GBI option to some extent, while Phase-II Batch-I projects would be supported through Viability Gap Fund (VGF).

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) was launched on January 11, 2010 with an ambitious target of developing 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power projects by 2022 and aims at reducing the cost of solar power generation in the country through long term policy; large scale deployment goals; aggressive Research and Development (R&D); and domestic production of critical raw materials, components and products. Solar power has been envisaged to achieve grid-tariff parity by 2022.

India's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has recently approved the implementation of JNNSM, Phase-II projects through VGF. The total VGF requirement for implementation of projects under the current phase of Solar Mission stands at around $300 million. The actual requirement will, however, depend on the bid prices. VGF support is estimated to leverage private investment to the tune of $800 million in setting up these projects.

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