A subsidiary of Adani Green Energy has received a contract to build a 600MW solar-wind hybrid project in India after posting a winning bid in an auction carried out last month by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
Subsidiary Adani Renewable Energy Holding Eight has received a letter of award for the installation, which will have a tariff of INR2.41/kWh (US$0.033/kWh) for 25 years and is expected to be commissioned within 18 months from the effective date of the power purchase agreement.
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Other winners in the 1.2GW SECI auction were ABC Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of Axis Energy, and AMP Energy which secured 380MW and 130MW of capacity respectively and also received tariffs of INR2.41/kWh. ACME Solar was awarded 90MW with a tariff of INR2.42/kWh (US$0.0331/kWh).
Winning bids
| Bidder | Price (INR/kWh) | Capacity (MW) |
|---|---|---|
| Adani Renewables | 2.41 | 600 |
| ABC Renewables | 2.41 | 380 |
| Amp Energy | 2.41 | 130 |
| ACME Solar | 2.42 | 90 |
Announced early last year, the auction for Interstate Transmission System (ISTS)-connected capacity is SECI’s Tranche-III of hybrid tenders. The organisation said that the rated capacity of one of the components – either solar or wind – of each hybrid project must be at least 25% of the rated capacity of the other resource.
Adani Green Energy, which won 700MW of solar-wind hybrid capacity in India at the beginning of 2020, said hybrid installations enable optimal utilisation of grid infrastructure, lead to a more sustainable integration of green energy and represent “a key enabler” for the growth of renewable power in India.
Vneet Jaain, Adani Green Energy CEO, said the 600MW project will help the company reach its target of 25GW of renewable power capacity by 2025. With the facility, the firm currently has a green energy capacity of 14,795MW, of which 2,950MW is operational and 11,845MW is under implementation.
India released its National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy in 2018, in a move to enhance the country’s grid stability and provide a framework for large-scale projects.
The country’s solar-wind hybrid capacity is set to reach 11.7GW by 2023, according to a recent report that says such facilities could play a major part in helping India reach its clean energy deployment goals. The research from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and JMK Research notes that the cost of a co-located project is 7-8% lower than that of a standalone solar system, with reduced overheads in terms of land, grid connection and hardware.
