The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company has awarded the 1,000 mw of floating solar capacity on the Ujjani Dam to six bidders, including Tatas, Azure Power and Acme Solar, say sources.
These players, selected from 25 bidders, won the contract for different capacities at tariffs of Rs 2.71 and Rs 2.72 per unit, according to the industry sources involved in the tendering process. State utility Mahavitaran had kept the reserve tariff at Rs 2.95 per unit.
While small players like JLTM Energy India quoted Rs 2.71 per unit, to set up a 20 mw project, another firm Mahoba Solar quoted the same price to develop a 200-mw project.
Established players like ReNew Solar Power, promoted by Yashwant Sinha's son Sumant Sinha, quoted Rs 2.72 per unit to develop a 250 mw project, Acme Solar Holdings (250 mw), Tata Power Renewable Energy (150 mw) and Azure Power India (130 mw) quoted the same price.
State utility Mahavitaran had in April floated tenders for setting up floating photovoltaic panels on the Ujjani Dam located in Solapur district to generate solar energy worth 1,000 mw, mainly to meet its solar renewable purchase obligation (RPO).
As per the data provided by the state discom, during FY17, it achieved solar RPO of 0.38 per cent, against the target of 1 per cent of the total renewable capacity.
Under the project, the power purchase agreement will be valid for 25 years.