The bidding process for setting up solar and thermal projects have resumed in Rajasthan. The process went through some delays earlier this year and the latest bidding will be undertaken with some major changes.
The postponement in May had led to frustration for many who had invested time and money to take part in the bidding process as per Madhavan Nampoothiri, founder and director, RESolve Energy Consultants.
The changes in question are that the selected thermal projects will be located in one solar park, which is Bhadla village, Tehsil Phalodi, Jodhpur district. The Rajasthan Solarpark Development Company Limited will allocate suitable plots to the winners of the bidding process.
Nampoothiri also mentioned that a total of 200 MW worth of solar projects, out of which 100 MW is PV and 100 MW is CSP will be allocated under the reverse bidding process similar to the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Under the previous bidding process, the power was to be purchased by one of the three states, Jaipur, Ajmer and Jodhpur Discoms, namely JVVNL, AVVNL and JdVVNL respectively.
As a result, now the PPA will be signed between the developer and RRECL, some of the off-take risk has been reduced as Nampoothiri explains. A pre-bid meeting will be held on 7 December and the last date for submission is 11 January. The reference price has been stated at Rs 8.42/kWh.
