Lok Sabha Question No. 1740 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-28
Subject: Auction of Renewable Energy Projects
Ministry: NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
Asked by: Sushil Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

## LOKSABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 1740

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28/11/2019

## AUCTION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS

## 1740. SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH

Will the Minister of NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the renewable energy projects successfully auctioned by the Government along with the projects that received no bids and projects that have been tendered but not allocated yet;
- (b) whether the Government has reviewed the cause of the waning of interest of renewable energy producers for investing in India, as reflected by the percentage of auctioned projects that received no bids and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the nature and reasons for the delays in allocation after successful awarding of auctioned projects;
- (d) whether the Government has also reviewed the cause of the cancellation and renegotiation of tariffs and tariff caps in Andhra Pradesh and its adverse effect in investor interest and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)  whether the Government proposes to tackle the uncertainties in the business and policy environments in renewable energy sector in consultation with States and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (I/C) FOR NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY,  POWER and MoS for  SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

(SHRI R. K. SINGH)

- (a) With respect to the tenders implemented by Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), details of (i) tenders awarded, (ii) tenders that have received no bids and (iii) tenders issued and yet to be awarded, are enclosed at Annexure-I .
- (b)  The participation of  bidders in tenders  for solar power projects has over the time been very encouraging with some tenders attracting bids of more than ten times the capacity to be allotted. However, in past few months, some solar tenders, have remained undersubscribed, which may be due to various reasons like delays in payments by distribution companies in some  States,  delays  in  adoption  of  tariffs  by  concerned  State  Electricity  Regulatory Commissions, reopening of contracts by State Government of Andhra Pradesh, etc.
- (c)  As  per  the  current  bidding  practice,  after  the  reverse  auction,  the  Letters  of  Award  are issued to the successful bidders. The issuance of Letters of Award to the successful bidders is itself  construed  as  allocation to the successful bidders. Thus there is no delay in allocation after successful awarding of auctioned projects.

(d) The Government is aware that the State Government of Andhra Pradesh had constituted a 'High Level Negotiation Committee for PPAs' (HLNC) to 'review, negotiate and bring down the high wind and solar energy purchase prices'.

Considering  the  fact  that  such  steps  can  have  adverse  effect  on  investor  confidence,  the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has advised the State Government of Andhra Pradesh  that  the  contractual  agreements  are  sacrosanct  and  should  not  be  revisited  unless there  is  specific  provision  to  do  so  in  the  agreement  or  a  case  of  malafide/  corruption  has been established.

(e)  In  order  to  address  the  issues  in  Renewable  Energy sector, MNRE has taken following steps:

- (1) The  State  DISCOMs  have  been  requested  to  honour  Power  Purchase  Agreements (PPAs)  and  'Must  Run'  status  accorded  to  wind  and  solar  power  projects,  as  per provisions of Indian Electricity Grid Code 2010.
- (2) In order to address the issues of delayed payments by State distribution companies to Renewable  Energy  generators,  the  Government  through  Ministry  of  Power's  Order No. 23/22/2019-R&R dated 28.06.2019 has made it mandatory for the Distribution Licensees to open and maintain adequate Letters of Credit (LCs) as Payment Security Mechanism  if  provided  for  under  Power  Purchase  Agreements  with  Distribution Licensees.
- (3) Further,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  contractual  provisions  in  the  Contract  (Power Purchase Agreements) between the solar power generators and the Procurers, and to facilitate  setting  up  of  Renewable  Energy  power  projects,  the  Government,  vide notification dated 22.10.2019 from Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, has made following major amendments to the 'Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects':
4. (i) Solar Power Generators have been allowed to submit documents/Lease Agreement  to  establish  possession/right  to  use  100%  (hundred  per  cent)  of  the required land in the name of the Solar Power Generator for a period not less than the complete term of the PPA, on or before the Scheduled Commissioning Date (SCD).
5. (ii) Clear  and  elaborate  provisions  for  time  extension  and  compensation  to  affected party in the event of natural and non-Natural Force Majeure events with specific provisions  regarding  termination  due  to  natural  and  non-natural  Force  Majeure events have been included.
6. (iii) Quantum of compensation for back-down has been increased from 50% to 100% with provision for recognition of only written instructions of back-down.
7. (iv) Corresponding  time  extension  in  date  for  achievement  of  financial  closure  and scheduled commissioning date, in case there is a delay in adoption of tariff by the concerned State Electricity Regulatory Commission beyond a period of 60 days from the filing of such application.

*****

## Annexure-I referred to in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1740 for reply on 28.11.2019

## (A). Tenders awarded by Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI):

## (i) Solar:

|   Sl. No. | Tender name                                                                                              |   Total Capacity Tendered (MW) |   Capacity (MW) for which subscriptions received |   Capacity Awarded (MW) | Date of Letter of Award (LoA)    | Remarks   |
|-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------------------|-----------|
|         1 | 750MW VGF Scheme                                                                                         |                            750 |                                             2170 |                     750 | 26.02.2014                       |           |
|         2 | Maharashtra 450MW Part-B                                                                                 |                            450 |                                             1350 |                     350 | 10.03.2016                       |           |
|         3 | Uttar Pradesh 440MW                                                                                      |                            440 |                                              565 |                     125 | 09.05.2016                       |           |
|         4 | Maharashtra 50MW Part-A                                                                                  |                             50 |                                               90 |                      50 | 16.06.2016                       |           |
|         5 | Chattisgarh 100MW                                                                                        |                            100 |                                              160 |                     100 | 02.07.2016                       |           |
|         6 | Karnataka 1000MW                                                                                         |                           1000 |                                             1230 |                     970 | 02.07.2016                       |           |
|         7 | Gujarat 250MW Part-A                                                                                     |                            250 |                                              725 |                     250 | 04.07.2016 29.07.2016 18.11.2016 |           |
|         8 | Andhra Pradesh 400 MW (Ananthapuramu Solar Park)                                                         |                            400 |                                              800 |                     400 | 16.08.2016                       |           |
|         9 | Uttar Pradesh Non Solar Park 160MW                                                                       |                            160 |                                              260 |                     160 | 16.08.2016                       |           |
|        10 | Uttar Pradesh (Re- bidding) 315MW                                                                        |                            315 |                                              155 |                      40 | 08.09.2016                       |           |
|        11 | Andhra Pradesh 100 MW (Ananthapuramu Solar Park)                                                         |                            100 |                                              200 |                       0 |                                  | Cancelled |
|        12 | Odisha 300MW                                                                                             |                            300 |                                              340 |                     270 | 22.11.2016                       |           |
|        13 | Maharashtra 450MW Part-B                                                                                 |                            450 |                                             1460 |                     450 | 23.11.2016                       |           |
|        14 | Rajasthan Bhadla 500 MW, Phase III Solar Park, (Part-1)                                                  |                            500 |                                             5500 |                     500 | 16.08.2017                       |           |
|        15 | Rajasthan Bhadla, 250 MW, Phase IV, (Part-1)                                                             |                            250 |                                             3250 |                     250 | 16.08.2017                       |           |
|        16 | Rajasthan Bhadla, 500 MW, Phase III, (Part-2)                                                            |                            500 |                                             4200 |                     500 | 28.03.2018                       |           |
|        17 | Rajasthan Bhadla, 250 MW, Phase IV, (Part-2)                                                             |                            250 |                                             2150 |                     250 | 28.03.2018                       |           |
|        18 | 10GW ISTS Connected Solar PV Power Plant linked with 3GW (Per Annum) Solar Manufacturing Plant (Phase-I) |                          10000 |                                             2000 |                       0 | 25.05.2018                       | Cancelled |

| Sl. No.   | Tender name                                                   | Total Capacity Tendered (MW)   | Capacity (MW) for which subscriptions received   |   Capacity Awarded (MW) | Date of Letter of Award (LoA)   | Remarks   |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------|
| 19        | 2000MW (ISTS-I)                                               | 2000                           | 3800                                             |                    2000 | 27.07.2018                      |           |
| 20        | 3000MW (ISTS-II)                                              | 3000                           | 5100                                             |                     600 | 10.08.2018                      |           |
| 21        | Kadapa Solar Park 750 MW                                      | 750                            | 1750                                             |                     750 | 30.08.2018                      |           |
| 22        | 70MW Amguri Solar Park, Assam                                 | 70                             | -                                                |                       0 | -                               | Cancelled |
| 23        | Pavagada Solar Park 200MW                                     | 200                            | 400                                              |                     200 | 30.11.2018                      |           |
| 24        | 750MW Grid Connected in Rajasthan Tranche-I (non-solar park)  | 750                            | 2370                                             |                     750 | 02.03.2019                      |           |
| 25        | 1200MW (ISTS-III)                                             | 1200                           | 1500                                             |                    1200 | 05.03.2019                      |           |
| 26        | 1200MW (ISTS-IV)                                              | 1200                           | 2100                                             |                    1150 | 25.07.2019                      |           |
| 27        | 750MW Grid Connected in Rajasthan Tranche-II (non-solar park) | 750                            | 1100                                             |                     680 | 16.09.2019                      |           |
| 28        | 2000 CPSU Scheme (Tranche-I)                                  | 2000                           | 1153                                             |                     922 | 28.09.2019                      |           |
| 29        | 1200MW (ISTS-V)                                               | 1200                           | 600                                              |                     480 | 28.09.2019                      |           |
| 30        | Maharashtra 50MW                                              | 50                             | 70                                               |                       0 | -                               | Cancelled |
|           | TOTAL                                                         |                                |                                                  |                   14147 |                                 |           |

(ii) Wind:

| Sl. No.   | Tranche      |   Total Capacity Tendered (MW) | Capacity (MW) for which subscriptions received   |   Total capacity awarded (MW) | LOA Date   |
|-----------|--------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------|
| 1         | Tranche-I    |                           1000 | 2593.9                                           |                        1049.9 | 05.04.2017 |
| 2         | Tranche-II   |                           1000 | 2892                                             |                        1000   | 03.11.2017 |
| 3         | Tranche-III  |                           2000 | 3699.8                                           |                        2000   | 23.02.2018 |
| 4         | Tranche-IV   |                           2000 | 2933.2                                           |                        2000   | 01.06.2018 |
| 5         | Tranche-V    |                           1200 | 2190                                             |                        1190   | 24.10.2018 |
| 6         | Tranche-VI   |                           1200 | 2325.6                                           |                        1200   | 17.06.2019 |
| 7         | Tranche-VII  |                           1200 | 600                                              |                         480   | 19.06.2019 |
| 8         | Tranche-VIII |                           1800 | 550.8                                            |                         440.8 | 28.09.2019 |
|           | Total        |                          11400 |                                                  |                        9360.7 |            |

(iii) Hybrid:

| Sl. No.   | Tranche    |   Total Capacity Tendered (MW) | Capacity (MW) for which subscriptions received   |   Total capacity awarded (MW) | LOA Date   |
|-----------|------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------|
| 1         | Tranche-I  |                           1200 | 1050                                             |                           840 | 25.01.2019 |
| 2         | Tranche-II |                           1200 | 900                                              |                           600 | 18.06.2019 |
|           | Total      |                           2400 |                                                  |                          1440 |            |

## (B). Tenders by SECI in which no bids were received:

## (i) Solar:

| Sl. No.   | Tender name                                             |   Tendered Capacity (MW) | Date of Issue of RfS   | Last Date of Receipt of Bids   | Remarks          |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|------------------------|--------------------------------|------------------|
| 1         | Gujarat - 5000MW VGF Scheme                             |                      150 | 07.09.2016             | 15.09.2017                     | No bids received |
| 2         | 275MW Grid Connected Solar PV Projects in Uttar Pradesh |                      275 | 14.08.2019             | 23.10.2019                     | No bids received |
|           | Total                                                   |                      425 |                        |                                |                  |

(ii)  Wind:

Nil

(iii)  Hybrid:

Nil

## (C). Tenders by SECI which are yet to be awarded:

## (i) Solar:

| Sl. No.   | Tender name                                                                                              |   Tendered Capacity (MW) | Date of Issue of RfS   | Remarks                                                           |
|-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | 250MW Grid Connected in Dondaicha Solar Park Maharashtra                                                 |                      250 | 17.08.2018             | PSA signing awaited                                               |
| 2         | 7500MW Solar PV Projects in Leh and Kargil Districts, Jammu & Kashmir                                    |                     7500 | 31.12.2018             | Last date for bids 31.01.2020                                     |
| 4         | 500MW Grid Connected Solar Photovoltaic Power Projects in Tamil Nadu (Phase-I)                           |                      500 | 05.04.2019             | Last date for bids 09.12.2019                                     |
| 3         | 7GW ISTS Connected Solar PV Power Plant linked with 2GW (Per Annum) Solar Manufacturing Plant (Phase-II) |                     7000 | 26.06.2019             | Last date for bids 13.11.2019 under techno- commercial evaluation |
| 5         | 1200MW ISTS Connected Solar Projects (ISTS-VI)                                                           |                     1200 | 28.06.2019             | To be awarded shortly                                             |
| 6         | CPSU Scheme (Tranche-II) Including Mini and Micro Grid Connected Solar PV projects                       |                     1500 | 01.08.2019             | To be awarded shortly                                             |
|           | Total                                                                                                    |                    17950 |                        |                                                                   |

## (ii)  Wind:

| Sl. No.   | Tranche    |   Total Capacity Tendered (MW) | Date of Issue of RfS   | Last Date of Receipt of Bids   |
|-----------|------------|--------------------------------|------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1         | Tranche-IX |                           1200 | 20.09.2019             | 05.12.2019                     |
|           | Total      |                           1200 |                        |                                |

(iii)  Hybrid:

| Sl. No.   | Tranche                                                             |   Total Capacity Tendered (MW) | Date of Issue of RfS   | Last Date of Receipt of Bids   |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1         | 1200MW ISTS Connected RE projects with Peak Power Supply (ISTS-VII) |                           1200 | 01.08.2019             | 29.11.2019                     |
| 2         | Round-the-Clock (RTC) Supply of 400MW RE Power to NDMC & DNH        |                            400 | 18.10.2019             | 03.12.2019                     |
|           | Total                                                               |                           1600 |                        |                                |