Reverse Bidding for 1000 MW of Wind Power

Later last year, SECI had floated tenders for total wind power capacity of 1,000 MW. The competitive bidding is tariff based and will be awarded to those quoting the lowest price (power tariff). SECI has tied up with PTC for long term power purchase agreements of developers with non-windy states to whom power will be supplied through the central transmission utility. Under the scheme, the government will not acquire land or equipment as developers will have to do that on their own. They would also run and maintain their plants. Provisions have been made in the Tariff Policy to waive the inter-state transmission charges and losses for wind power projects.

According to the scheme, the project capacity will be determined by SECI for each tender, but will not be less than 25 MW for a single project developer at one site. SECI is the nodal agency for implementation of this scheme and is working on the e-bidding process followed by e-reverse auction for eligible bidders. It will also develop a suitable mechanism for project monitoring. On January 09, 2017 the bids had been submitted by the prospective developers against the Request for selection (RFS) document issued by SECI on 28 October 2016. The bidders will be free to avail fiscal incentives like AD, GBI, concessional customs and excise duties, tax holidays, etc. available for such projects as per prevailing conditions and rules. Equal opportunity is being provided to all bidders at the time of tendering itself. The Bids have received a good response and have been opened for about 2600 MW against 1000 MW for the states of Tamilnadu, Gujarat and Karnataka. The Bids are under evaluation and the Reverse bidding process is expected to be completed in next 2/3 months.