India’s Azure gets green light for 2GW ISTS solar project

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Image credit: Azure Power

Azure Power has lined up the latest solar contract of a string this year, securing the government’s backing for a major interstate transmission (ISTS) project.

On Thursday, the developer said it has been picked by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to deploy 2GW of solar across the country, backed by a power purchase agreement (PPA).

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The scheme, supported by the SECI’s new letter of award, will seek to deploy annual 500MW PV batches at yet-to-be decided locations all across India, Azure said in a statement.

The firm expects all plants to be commissioned between 2022 and 2025. Their output has been contracted via a 25-year PPA with SECI, featuring tariffs of INR2.92/kWh (US$0.041/kWh).

The tariff, said Azure CEO Ranjit Gupta, is 8% higher than the “last discovered” figure from SECI for ISTS projects. “This opportunity is attractive to us for many reasons,” Gupta remarked.

The PPA with SECI will offer Azure protection against curtailment, a long-running issue for Indian renewables. The deal allows the developer to override ISTS transmission fees.

In return for the long-term state backing to its 2GW push, Azure is required to support 500MW in domestic PV cell and module manufacturing capacity.

The firm explained it has already signed a tentative deal with a “leading” Indian panel maker to take over a majority stake of the 500MW component.

The 2GW contract win is the latest of a series for Azure this year, following the SECI’s awarding of a smaller ISTS PV project – at 300MW of capacity – in late July 2019.

The developer has also scored victories at SECI utility-scale auctions, bagging tariffs of around INR2.50-2.54/kWh (US$0.035/kWh) for 370MW of PV at two tenders in September.

A question looming over India more broadly has been whether the country can reach its 175GW-by-2022 renewable target, amid analyst warnings that the goal lies beyond reach.

Read Next

June 30, 2025
Voting on the US tax reconciliation bill is expected to begin in the Senate today, following a draft published on Friday that hit clean energy tax credits hard.
June 30, 2025
Australian module manufacturer Tindo Solar has secured a 30MW solar module supply agreement to power Australia's first "net zero pipeline”.
June 27, 2025
Indian solar manufacturer Premier Energies has commissioned its 1.2GW TOPCon solar cell manufacturing line at Fab City, Hyderabad, Telangana.
June 27, 2025
Renewables investment platform Nexwell Power has signed a round of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with “one of the largest” US tech companies for solar PV capacity to be built in Spain.
June 27, 2025
Statkraft has signed PPAs with Better Energy to purchase energy from two solar power plants in Poland with a total capacity of 64GWh.
June 27, 2025
Solar developer Lightsource bp has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a subsidiary of Taiwanese energy firm HD Renewable Energy (HDRE).

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece