The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has announced plans to issue a tender to develop 2 gigawatts of solar and wind energy capacity. SECI will auction 1 gigawatt of solar and 1 gigawatt of wind energy capacity at a location likely to be disclosed once the actual tender documents are released.
The concept behind this tender is true co-development of solar and wind energy projects. Site planning would be done in such a manner that solar panels would be installed in shadow-free areas between wind turbines. This would significantly reduce land cost per megawatt of capacity installed.
There would be additional savings for integration of these projects with the transmission network. No specific or additional grid integration equipment would be required for installation. Such projects would ensure that project developers continue to quote highly competitive bids to install solar and wind energy projects.
Hybrid renewable energy projects in this manner and at this scale would be implemented in India for the first time so it will also be interesting to see how the power generated from these projects is handled.
Understandably, it will be much easier for the companies with experience in development of wind and solar power to implement these hybrid projects. Such companies include ReNew Power, Adani Power, Avaada Power, and Tata Power.
It is an attempt by Indian government to sustain low tariff bids and at the same time optimally use transmission infrastructure.