The morning tweet of Union Minister Piyush Goyal brought cheer in the renewable sector yet again. "Clean affordable power for all: Solar achieves another record low of Rs 3.15/ unit (flat rate) during an auction in Kadapa, AP by NTPC.
History is created for the second time in the country with solar power tariff hitting a new low at Rs 3.15 per unit levelised tariff in the reverse auction for the 250 MW Kadapa Ultra Mega Solar Park Project in Andhra Pradesh.
At this record low tariff of Rs 3.15, French company Solairedirect won the rights to put up the 250 MW solar plants and sell power to NTPC Ltd. This breaks the earlier record of Rs 3.3/unit levelised tariff of the Rewa Ultra Mega Power Project concluded recently.
The other bidders were Ostra Energy (Rs 3.16), Canadian Solar Energy (Rs 3.39), Greenko Energies (Rs 4.09), Azure Power (Rs 4.38), Mohoba Solar (Rs 4.54) and Mahindra Renewables (Rs 4.68).
Currency appreciation played an important role in reaching this tariff, which helped the companies save on costs. When the Rewa bid took place in February, the rupee stood at around Rs 66 and today it stands at Rs 64.63. The decline aids in monetising on the import of solar modules.
BW Reporters
Naina Sood is a Economics graduate and has done her post graduation in International economics and Trade. She has deep interests in Indian economy and reforms