SB Energy, a SoftBank-led project developer, Finland-based Fortum Solar, and French utility Engie secured the rights to develop 700 megawatts of capacity at Gujarat’s Raghanesda Solar Park, located in Banaskantha district.
Three major Indian developers had showed interest in the tender but failed to make the cut in the financial bid.
The tender was floated by the Gujarat government in October 2018, and saw total bids of 1,750 megawatts against the offered capacity of just 700 megawatts.
In the financial bid round, SB Energy secured 250 megawatts of capacity at the lowest bid of Rs 2.84/kWh. Fortum Solar and Engie both placed bids of Rs 2.89/kWh, but while Fortum secured 250 megawatts, Engie managed to bag just 200 megawatts.
Interestingly, this is the first time ever that SB Energy has participated in a solar power auction organized by a state government. The company used to participate only in tenders issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, or NTPC Limited.
The short in strategy by SB Energy may be the result of a long lull in tenders from any central government agency.
Reference- Cleantechnica, Mercom India