India’s biggest solar power project has stalled as the state which sought bids from generators says it can’t buy the energy at prices it had agreed upon.
Winning developers in Jharkhand state are still waiting to sign power purchase agreements almost a year after the tender. In March, Jharkhand awarded contracts to build 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of solar. The state’s power retailer, Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd, was supposed to sign the power purchase agreements in May 2016.
The delay underscores the threat from financially strapped state power retailers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious renewable energy goals. State-owned power retailers in India had combined losses of Rs3.84 trillion as of March 2015, according to a report by KPMG.
ReNew Power Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which is majority owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. scooped up 522 MW in the March auction. ReNew’s other investors include the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Global Environment Fund.
Other winners included Suzlon Energy Ltd, OPG Power Ventures Plc, Acme Group, Adani Enterprises Ltd and SunEdison Inc.
By Baishakhi Dutta
By Baishakhi Dutta
