Karnataka awards contracts for 80 MW of photovoltaic and Concentrating Solar Power

Contracts for 20 MW of CSP and 60 MW of PV projects were awarded in this first round of bidding. The lowest bid came in at INR 7.94/kWh (USD 0.152/kWh) by Helena Power Pvt. Ltd. for a 10 MW PV plant and the highest successful bid at INR 8.50/kWh (USD 1.63/kWh) by Welspun Solar AP Pvt. Ltd. for a 7 MW PV plant.

Other successful bidders include Sunborne Energy Services India Pvt. Ltd. and Atria Power Corporation Ltd., each with 10 MW CSP plants, and Jindal Aluminum Ltd., GKC Project Ltd. and Sai Sudhir Energy Ltd. each with 10 MW PV plants.

Additionally, ESSEL Infrastructure Ltd. – Gulbarga and ESSEL Infrastructure Ltd. – Badami will build 5 MW PV plants, with United Telecoms Ltd. finishing off the batch with a 3 MW PV plant.

Under the terms of the program, CSP projects must be commissioned within 30 months of signing a power purchase agreement, and PV projects within 18 months.

The total amount of CSP allocated was shifted from 30 MW to 20 MW due to insufficient interest. Bridge to India states that this is due to project sizes being limited to 10 MW under the program, which is a less economically viable size for CSP plants.

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