India relaxes Solar auction norms to attract bidders |
In good news for the renewable energy industry, the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has amended the terms for bidders, allowing developers more time and flexibility to set up projects. This is the fourth set of revisions since the launch of auctions in August 2017. Major solar tenders have remained under-subscribed recently with issues such as irregular payments, land acquisition and abrupt power curtailment from the state-owned power distribution companies making the industry jittery. According to a senior MNRE official, the amendments have been incorporated in the solar bidding norms after extensive consultation with the industry. Earlier, developers were mandated to submit the requisite land documents within 12 months of signing power purchase agreements (PPAs). The new amendment allows solar project owners to submit the documents on or before the scheduled date of project commissioning, which is usually kept at 18-24 months of signing PPAs, effectively providing 6-12 additional months to tackle land acquisition issues. Making curtailment norms more stringent, the new bidding fiats state that if discoms curtail power procurement from the solar units, they will have to pay full price for the electricity not bought instead of 50% mandated earlier.
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