Tuesday, January 21, 2014: There was a bidding of 2,170MW during the second phase of India’s national solar mission (JNNSM) offering 750MW of solar capacity as per solar consultants, Bridge to India. There were two bidding rounds that got 68 bids from 58 developers who proposed 122 projects.
As stated on pv-tech.org, nearly half of the 750MW that was on offer comprised of a domestic content requirement (DCR) with the other half unrestricted. The DCR round got 36 project proposals totaling 700MW for the allocated 375MW. The balance 86-project bids during the second open half of the auction got 1,470MW of proposed solar projects.
The next phase of JNNSM of 1,000MW is going to be announced in May 2014. The auction firstly used Viability Gap Funding (VGF), a government grant towards up to 30 per cent of the cost of projects, in spite of concerns from developers and analysts, the payment for the funding will not be on time. Projects allocated with funding will be announced on 20 February.
The auction also made use of the controversial DCR in spite of international concerns on fair trade, and analysts forecasting the requirement as more detrimental than beneficial. The DCR comprised of half of the auction bidders, which included Tata Power, Waaree, Moser Baer, SolaireDirect, SunEdison, ACME, Azure, and Welspun. The auction was also participated by state-owned power companies in Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha and West Bengal.
