The previous lowest solar tariff was about Rs 5.05 per unit offered by Candian company
India gets its electricity from power plants run by nine different sources.
New Delhi: Due to an aggressive bidding, solar power tariff in India has touched an all-time low of Rs 4.63 per unit. US-based world’s biggest developer of renewable-energy power plants, SunEdison won a bid to sell solar power from a 500 megawatt plant in Andhra Pradesh under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission at the rate of Rs 4.63 per kilowatt-hour (KWh or unit).
“Delighted that an all time low solar tariff of Rs 4.63 (a kWhr) has been achieved during reverse e-auction conducted by NTPC,” power minister Piyush Goyal tweeted. SunEdison is said to have offered tariff lower than SoftBank Group Corp of Japan and Chinese solar products maker Trina Solar Ltd in the auction. Softbank bid competitively at Rs 4.80 per unit while another firm bid for a 50 MW project at Rs 4.79 per kilowatt hour (KWh) or unit, said sources.
The previous lowest solar tariff was about Rs 5.05 per unit offered by Candian company SkyPower’s for a 150 MW project in Madhya Pradesh. Solar power tariff were at a peak of Rs 18 per unit in 2012 and have since than been falling. The present solar tariff compares to Rs 1.5-5 per unit generating cost of electricity from domestic and imported coal.
“In an e-reverse auction conducted by NTPC on Wednesday for 500 MW (10 projects of 50 MW each) to be set up at Ghani Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh under National Solar Mission, Phase-II, Batch-II, TrancheI of ministry of new and renewable energy, NTPC received the lowest tariff of Rs 4.63 per unit of electricity,” said a government statement. It said that total 30 bids were received totalling to 5,500 MW capacity. The Narendra Modi government is targeting a five-fold jump in solar power generation to 100 gigawatts by 2020.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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