India has given the option to solar power procurers to extend the timelines for land acquisition, financial close and PV project commissioning, which should help developers working on interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected plants.
Lightsource BP has completed its first utility-scale solar farm in India after bringing online a 60MW project in Maharashtra, having won the contract through a competitive 450MW tender process completed in September 2016.
The sanctioning of a tendering scheme for 2.5GW of hybrid wind and solar capacity in India, to be allocated through a transparent bidding process, has been branded as “the right step”, by consultancy firm Bridge to India.
India-based renewable energy company Suzlon Group has commissioned 340MW of solar projects across Telangana (210MW), Rajasthan (60MW DCR category) and Maharashtra (70MW).
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has tendered another 3GW of inter-state transmission system (ISTS)-connected solar projects to be set up anywhere in India, adding to the 2GW of similar projects tendered in January.
The winner of India’s first major solar-plus-storage auction, which has subsequently been scrapped for retendering, has said that despite being an unfortunate development, the firm is still keen to work closely with government on this technology for the which the economics are continuously and rapidly improving.
