Piyush Goyal sanctions purchase of 1050 MW of wind power

New Delhi [India], July 21 (ANI): Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday presided over the signing of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for the purchase of 1050 MW wind power under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)'s first Wind Auction Scheme here.

As per the agreements signed, Mytrah Energy, Inox Wind and Ostro Kutch Wind Pvt. Ltd. would supply wind power of capacity 250 MW each. Further, Green Infra would supply 249.9 MW and Adani Green Energy 50 MW from their wind power projects through inter-state transmission system at a tariff of Rs. 3.46 per kWh discovered through the open and transparent competitive bidding process.

PTC India tied-up this wind power for sale to DISCOMS of a number of States. Under this, Uttar Pradesh would get 449.9 MW, Bihar 200 MW, Jharkhand 200 MW, Delhi 100 MW, Assam 50 MW and Odisha 50MW for meeting their non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO).

For these projects, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) conducted e-reverse auction on February 23, 2017, and issued a Letter of Award (LoA) to the successful wind power developers on April 5, 2017. The wind power projects under first wind auction are likely to be commissioned by September 2018.

Lauding the efforts of the stakeholders, Goyal floated the idea of doing away with the requirement of separate Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO) for different renewable energy sources and allow the states to independently decide their energy mix.

However, he urged that wind energy bids should be brought out every month, though he also advised the senior officials of the Ministry to calibrate the pace of this process keeping in mind the affordability of renewable energy for common man. Industry players which are inefficient would either evolve and face competition in the sector or finally wind up.

He also informed that the Ministry is working to bring robust guidelines for the wind energy bidding and is in discussions with regulators for better forecasting and scheduling of renewable energy in the grid.

With every unit of renewable power generated in the country, jobs are being created to the tune of five to seven times as compared to power generated through conventional energy sources.

Speaking on the occasion, Anand Kumar, Secretary, MNRE, informed that the Ministry exempted the Inter State Transmission levies on transfer of Renewable Energy from windy States to non-windy ones, which would aid the latter to meet their RPOs and keep the costs of power affordable.

Earlier, the MNRE had sanctioned a scheme for setting up of 1000 MW inter-state transmission system (ISTS) connected Wind Power Projects on June 14, 2016 with the objective to encourage competitiveness through scaling up of project sizes and introduction of efficient and transparent e-bidding and e-auctioning processes. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI