Wind power tariff fall to historic low of Rs 2.64/unit

The wind power sector witnessed a new record at midnight during the second round of bidding for 1000 MW of power projects by the Centre. Tariff fell by 23 per cent in just six months to a new low of Rs 2.64 per unit in an auction held on Wednesday by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

ReNew Power and Orange Sirong quoted the lowest tariff to win 250 MW and 200 MW, respectively. INOX Wind and Green Infra Wind Energy followed suit and won 250 MW each at Rs 2.65 per unit. These are fixed tariffs for 25 years. Adani Green Energy got 50 MW at Rs 2.65 per unit. 

ReNew Power founded by Sumant Sinha is backed by Goldman Sachs in India. Orange Sironj is financially promoted by AT Capital Group, a capital investment firm in Singapore. Inox Wind is a subsidiary of Gujarat Fluorochemicals, operating in the wind energy space since 2008. Leading global energy company Sembcorp Industries Limited bid through Green Infra that it recently acquired in India.

ReNew and INOX may set up their projects in Gujarat while Green Infra and Orange have mentioned Tamil Nadu as their project location.

SECI, a public sector undertaking under the renewable energy ministry, conducted the auction. It is the designated agency for implementation of this wind power scheme. Power Trading Corporation will buy the power after entering into power purchase agreements with the successful bidders. The responsibility for the inter-state transmission system connectivity and long- term access lies with the wind project developer.

  

In the first wind tender issued by SECI in February this year, the tariff discovered was Rs 3.46 per unit, much lower than the prevailing feed-in tariff of Rs 5 per unit in the wind sector. It was followed by bidding held by Tamil Nadu for 500 MW of wind power projects in the state wherein the tariff was Rs 3.42 per unit, in August.

The current government has retired the feed-in-tariff regime in the wind sector to introduce more competition and bring down prices. Aiming at an ambitious target, the ministry of new and renewable energy plans to auction wind power projects every month. However, it will strictly monitor the bid prices to keep them affordable.

Wind power tariffs across projects

Company	Project size (in Mw)	Winning tariff (Rs per kWh)	Project location
ReNew Power	250	2.64	Gujarat
Orange Sironj	200	2.64	Tamil Nadu
Green Infra (Sembcorp)	250	2.65	Tamil Nadu
INOX Wind	250	2.65	Gujarat