India’s wind sector has a new player in the field

New Delhi: SoftBank Group Corp-backed SB Energy made its first foray into standalone wind projects, securing a large portion of a 1,200-MW wind tender, despite pressing constraints around the availability of land and transmission infrastructure. Besides SoftBank, Adani and Ostro Energy have also bagged a large chunk of the tender floated by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in December.

After bagging 325 MW of the 600 MW capacity in the techno-commercial bid stage earlier in February, SB Energy quoted a tariff of Rs. 2.83 per unit. Quoting a price of Rs 2.82 per unit, for 250 MW and 300 MW respectively, the two companies were the lowest bidders for the tender. In the techno-commercial stage, the tender in question was oversubscribed by close to 1,200 MW.

Reserve price set at Rs 2.85 per unit

The reserve price, the maximum allowable tariff in a tender, was set at Rs 2.85 per unit. Srijan Energy and Powerica also quoted Rs. 2.82 per unit for 150 MW and 50 MW capacity respectively. Quoting Rs 2.83 per unit, Ecoren Energy India secured 125 MW capacity.

In December, SoftBank had bagged 450 MW in the country's first hybrid tender that requires both solar and wind projects to be developed at the same location.

"The wind sector which is in deep trouble but the government is working to address our concerns. Wind turbine manufacturers and project developers alike have been conservative," said an executive of an IPP on condition of anonymity.

With some of the best wind sites in India, Gujarat has seen the state government delay the land allotment for previous centrally-auctioned wind projects.

"The developers have taken the land issues into account while quoting the tariff," the executive quoted earlier said.