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February 14

Wind auction bids stay on the lower side between Rs 2.47 and 2.65 per unit

New Delhi: The country’s largest ever wind auction of 2,000 MW has received bids ranging from Rs 2.47 to Rs 2.65 per unit, close to the record low ofRs 2.43, from major players in the sector. The auction, being conducted by Solar Corporation of India (SECI), began at 4.30 pm on Tuesday and was continuing at the time of going to press.

It had developers shortlisted, including many of the marquee names in the business, both local — such as Inox Renewables, ReNew Power, Torrent Power and Adani Green Energy — and global, such as Rome-head quartered Enel, the Paris-headquartered Engie and the Singapore-based Sembcorp.

This is the third wind auction being held by SECI, the first two, both of 1000 MW each having been conducted in February and October last year. The first saw a lowest winning tariff of Rs 3.46 per unit, while in the second, the winning tariff went down further still to Rs 2.64 per unit.

Subsequently, a 500 MW wind auction held by Gujarat’s Urja Vikas Nigam saw the tariff fall further to Rs 2.43 per unit.

Although the current auction is still in progress and the lowest tariff could fall further, industry analysts largely felt that prices were already close to rock bottom and unlikely to go much lower than Rs 2.43 per unit.

Before the auction regime began, wind tariffs were determined by the power regulators of the eight wind energy producing states and varied between Rs 4 and Rs 6.

The sharp fall in tariffs following the first Solar Corporation auction created an upheaval in the segment last year with state discoms refusing to sign any more power purchase agreements (PPAs) at the much higher prices set by the regulators.

With only three subsequent auctions being held – one each by SECI, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu – both signing of fresh PPAs for wind projects and commissioning of new projects had practically ground to a halt last year.

The latest SECI auction of the highest ever capacity is an effort to restart capacity addition once again.

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