India: SECI reveals solar-plus-storage tender winners, JSW Energy appeals CERC tariff decision

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has revealed the results of a reverse auction for solar PV paired with battery storage that will connect to the Inter State Transmission System (ISTS).

The state-run company announced four winning bids at IR3.52/kWh (US$0.041) and one at IR3.53 at the end of last year (31 December 2024). SECI intends to enter 25-year power purchase agreements with the five successful developers.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

A total of 2,000MW of solar PV (paired with 1,000MW/4,000MWh of energy storage) had been eligible for award and 4,520MW of capacity had been shortlisted to enter the competitive solicitation’s auction stage.

The tender was launched last summer by SECI, which is administered by the government Ministry of Power’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). SECI sought proposals for build-own-operate (BOO) assets, from which the state corporation would sell energy to Buying Entities that could include electricity distribution companies (‘discoms’), utilities, corporate customers or other offtakers.

Developers’ scope of work would include setting up the transmission infrastructure to connect their power plants to the ISTS. SECI had made the tender technology agnostic in terms of energy storage but required 0.5MW/2MWh of energy storage system (ESS) technology to be paired with every megawatt of solar PV.  

NTPC, Reliance subsidiaries win lion’s share of awarded capacity

Singapore-headquartered engineering firm Sembcorp already said it had been a winner and received its letter of award (LOA) from the Indian government in mid-December.

As reported by Energy-Storage.news at that time, Sembcorp won the rights to construct a 150MW solar PV plant with a 300MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).

Sembcorp’s entered bid was among the lower-cost tranche of winners, joined by state-owned power producer National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and renewable energy developers Solarcraft Power India and Hero Solar Energy.

As seen in the table below, they were joined by Reliance NU Suntech, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries which bid in at IR3.53/kWh. Reliance NU Suntech’s win had also been revealed earlier in December by local media reports.

Bidder’s nameBid quantity (MW)Tariff (INR/kWh)Awarded capacity (MW)
NTPC Renewable Energy Limited5003.52500
Sembcorp Green Infra Private Limited1503.52150
Solarcraft Power India 8 Private Limited1503.52150
Hero Solar Energy Private Limited2703.52270
Reliance NU Suntech Private Limited (erstwhile Siyom Hydro Power Private Limited)10003.53930
The e-reverse auction was held 9 December 2024.

Some big names in the Indian energy sector made it through to the e-reverse auction stage but didn’t win, including JSW Neo Energy and ReNew Solar Power. Full results can be seen here.

JSW Renew Energy Five appeals CERC decision to deny SECI tariff

In other SECI tender news, power generation, transmission and trading company JSW Energy is filing an appeal against a recent decision by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to deny a tariff it was awarded.

JSW Energy subsidiary JSW Renew Energy Five had won a competitive solicitation for standalone battery energy storage hosted by SECI.

The developer received a letter of award for its bid to construct 500MW/1,000MWh of BESS in January 2023. However, SECI’s tariff proposal filed with the national regulator was not approved and last week (2 January) CERC issued an order to that effect.

According to a JSW Energy announcement to the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE India), CERC had said the proposed tariff was ‘not aligned with the prevailing market prices due to delay by SECI in signing the Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement and the Battery Energy Storage Sale Agreement.’

‘We are in the process of filing an appeal against the order,’ the JSW Energy statement to the NSE India said.

1 July 2025
London, UK
UK Solar Summit 2025 will look at the role solar currently plays in the energy mix, how this will change over the coming years and how this aligns with net-zero and other government targets. We will break down all these challenges and help build up solutions through discursive panels, motivational keynotes and case studies, with newly added interactive sessions to get you moving and meeting your peers, making the connections you need to boost your business.
31 October 2025
Greater Noida, India

Read Next

July 1, 2025
Spanish developer and independent power producer (IPP) Zelestra has reached financial close for its hybrid 1GWh BESS and solar PV plant in Chile.
June 30, 2025
Globeleq and African Rainbow Energy have reached commercial close on the 612MWh Red Sands BESS in South Africa.
June 26, 2025
A new partnership aims to deploy an integrated solution combining solar PV with sodium-ion batteries at commercial and industrial (C&I) sites in Southeast Asia.
June 26, 2025
Renewable energy developer ACE Power has received development approval for a 200MW/800MWh solar-plus-storage site in Western Australia.
Premium
June 25, 2025
Intersect Power has become the latest player in the energy storage space to feel the adverse effects of tariff increases and policy uncertainty.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter