Centre to provide Rs 500 Cr grant to AP for solar parks

Centre has agreed to provide a grant of Rs 500 crore towards development of 2,500 MW solar parks in Andhra Pradesh, which has received good response for plans to set up such units, officials said today.
Responding to the state's move for development of 500 MW grid connected solar photo-voltaic projects, 50 prospective solar developers have placed bids for 1,296 MW.
This was informed to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu by Energy Secretary Ajay Jain and K Vijayanand, who is CMD of state-run transmission utility AP Transco and MD of generation firm AP Genco, via teleconference.
The financial bids of 49 qualified bidders for the capacity of 1,291 MW were opened by AP Transco. The range of first year tariff offered by the bidders is from Rs 5.25 to Rs 8.08 per unit with 3 per cent escalation every year up to ten years. There is no escalation after the 11th year.

With the tariff up to Rs 5.99 per unit, the cumulative capacity offered by the bidders is 619 MW against the bid capacity of 500 MW, the officials said.
First Solar Power India Pvt Ltd offered lowest tariff of Rs 5.25 per unit for capacity of 40 MW in Ananthapur district. The levelised tariff worked out to Rs 6.17 per unit, which is lower than the earlier tariff (Rs 6.49 per Unit).

Solar bidders preferred Anathapur district, where bid for 580 MW was received followed by Chittoor (273 MW) and Kurnool (272 MW). For coastal Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam, tariffs of Rs 5.94 and Rs.5.99 per unit were offered.

Notable bidders include Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt Ltd (345 MW) and Acme Clean Tech Solutions Ltd (160 MW).
G Sai Prasad, Secretary, Power (Chief Minister's Office), who also participated in the teleconference, informed Naidu that the Union government has agreed to provide a grant (free of cost or non-repayable) of Rs 20 lakh per MW - which works out Rs 500 crore - for development 2,500 MW solar park in Andhra Pradesh.
Buoyed by the response from developers for setting up solar power plants in Andhra Pradesh, the state government has decided to expedite the action plan to make the state a solar hub.

As part of the plan, the government has targeted achieving 9,150 MW generation capacity through renewable energy sources, particularly solar and wind, by 2018-19.
Jain and Vijayanand are camping in Visakhapatnam to oversee restoration works in cyclone-hit areas. During the teleconference, Naidu asked officials to take steps to expedite implementation of the action plan.