Solar developers and the Jharkhand government have resolved an 18-month long deadlock over the price of solar power, with the developers agreeing to a reduced tariff of Rs 4.95 per kwH.
The problem arose after the Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) held a mega auction of 1,200 MW in March 2016 to set up solar projects at 45 different areas across the state. Winning bids ranged from Rs 5.08 to Rs 5.48 per kwH for the larger projects of above 25 MW and Rs 5.29 to Rs 7.95 for those below. The biggest winner was ReNew Power, which secured 522 MW.
Letters of intent were duly issued by Jharkhand’s discom, Jharkhand Bijli Vitaran Nigam Ltd (JBVNL), in May 2016 but thereafter it kept avoiding the actual signing of the power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the winning developers.
Meanwhile, solar tariffs kept falling in succeeding auctions, reaching a record low of Rs 2.44 per kwH in an auction conducted by Solar Corporation of India at the Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan in May this year. Last month, thedevelopers finally agreed to a reduced tariff of Rs 4.99 per kwH for projects above 25 MW, which the state government agreed to consider.
The tariff of Rs 4.95 per kwH of projects above 25 MW has been approved by the state cabinet, said Niranjan Kumar, director, JREDA said to an English daily. He further notified that it has directed the discom to sign the PPAs, which will be done in a week.
By Baishakhi Dutta
