UPDATE – India launches 1-GW rooftop solar tender for govt buildings

Dec 9, 2016 15:51 CET by Plamena Tisheva

December 9 – Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) today launched a 1-GW rooftop solar tender in a bid to “rapidly escalate” the rooftop solar segment and help the government meet its target of 40 GW installed rooftop solar capacity by 2022.

The tender will support grid-connected rooftop solar installations on buildings of ministries and departments of the central government.

Solar developers will bid for contracts in separate states and the tender is to result in one rate per state. The deadline for bids is January 27, 2017.

The 1-GW capacity will be distributed between the CAPEX, or self-owned, and RESCO (renewable energy service company), or third-party owned, modes at a ratio of 30% to 70%, according to the announcement.

Based on a list of sites provided by the MNRE and interested ministries, SECI is carrying out a potential assessment which will be provided to solar developers. The power generated will be used to meet the needs of the buildings, while any surplus will be supplied to the grid under the net-metering terms of the respective state.

The incentives, in terms of capital subsidy, will be provided on the basis of performance achieved by designated ministries and departments against their committed targets in the given timespan, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said.

This is SECI’s largest rooftop solar tender to date and comes soon after an auction for 500 MW of rooftop capacity. SECI has so far commissioned more than 54 MW of rooftop solar systems under multiple government schemes, MNRE said.

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