SJVN, NTPC & Hinduja — Winning Bidders In RUMSL’s 300 MW Floating Solar Park Auction

For the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar’s (RUMSL) 300 MW floating solar park (Phase II) tender in the Omkareshwar reservoir in Madhya Pradesh, NTPC Renewable Energy, Hinduja Renewables, and SJVN Green Energy are selected as the winning bidders.

With a tariff of Rs. 3.69/kWh, NTPC Renewable Energy won 90 MW, SJVN Green Energy got 83 MW, and Hinduja Renewables earned 80 MW, each at a tariff of Rs. 3.70/kWh.

RUMSL, a partnership between Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam (MPUVN) and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), floated this tender for the project’s Phase II in July, which was met with a resoundingly positive response. Further, the tender was oversubscribed by 700 MW.

RUMSL will provide the project’s evacuation system. Additionally, the grid-connected floating solar photovoltaic projects with a capacity of 100 MW each make up six of the 600 MW capacity and will be built at certain sites at the Omkareshwar reservoir. 

In May of this year, the auction for the first phase (300 MW) was held. The auction’s winners were determined to be Amp Energy, SJVN, and NHDC. While NHDC got 100 MW at Rs. 3.22/kWh, Amp Energy won 100 MW at a tariff of Rs. 3.21/kWh. SJVN had been awarded the final 100 MW of capacity at Rs. 3.26/kWh.

Comparing the lowest bid to the 300 MW Phase I auction, the lowest bid was approx 15% higher.

Due to their ability to circumvent the need for land, which is a problem for ground-mounted installations, floating solar projects are beginning to gain traction. India now has 52 GW of solar installations, including 286 MW of floating solar projects.

The Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (MPERC) authorized modifications to the project’s development’s bid specifications in October of this year. Several exceptions from the bidding regulations had been requested in a petition that RUMSL and the Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company had filed jointly.