In a further boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious renewable energy mission, another renewable energy storage tender has been floated by the government. The tender comes with a special clause that may lead to reduced tariff bids and attractive purchase rates for the buyers, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) said in a document. The renewable energy capacity of 1.2 gigawatts (GW) along with energy storage has been offered in the tender by SECI, a company of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy established to facilitate the implementation of the National Solar Mission.
The development of the energy storage sector is important for India if it were to achieve its 2022 target of 175 GW. Since the first tender was released in 2015, several tenders have been issued in this regard by SECI and other government firms in the range of 120 megawatts (MW) to 160 megawatts (MW). The country has already installed 80 GW of renewable energy and ambitious policy, according to SECI.
Tender conditions
The developers can set up wind or solar or hybrid projects of solar and wind energy, according to the conditions mentioned in the tender floated by SECI. A group of the company can bid for a maximum capacity of 600 MW and the project size may remain between 50 MW to 300 MW, the document also said.
National Solar Mission
The National Solar Mission is a combined initiative of the central and state governments so as to promote solar power storage in the country. The mission was inaugurated by the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 11 January 2010 with a target of 20 GW by 2022 which was later increased to 100 GW by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government in the budget presented in the year 2015. India added over 9,000 MW in FY18, the highest of any year so far.