Potential bidders for solar power projects in Andhra Pradesh, have sought some clarifications with regard to the uniformity of price and more tweaking of the norms.

At a pre-bid conference held here today, the potential applicants wanted the transmission corporation of Andhra Pradesh to take into consideration the recent order of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission with the regard to cost of setting up of a solar power project.

The CERC had indicated at a capex of Rs 8 crore/ MW solar power project. This works out to about Rs 7-8 a unit.

AP Transco had recently floated tenders inviting interest for setting up solar power farms across some select locations in the State with a total capacity of about 1,160 MW. Rajasthan has taken early lead and Tamil Nadu has recently invited bids.

According to P. V. R. Krishna Rao of Earthcare, a consultant, the participants wanted a average price pool and this would bring about uniformity in the bidding process.

Some of the participants wanted the earnest money deposit of Rs 2 lakh/MW to be lowered and others wanted a standardised tariff instead of location-specific bidding structure.

Responding to the requests made by the participants, AP Transco has informed that it would consider their requests and announce necessary changes wherever possible.

The participants at the pre-bid conference were segregated into three categories — those based in Hyderabad, those from other parts of the Andhra Pradesh and the rest from other parts of the country.

The State Government is looking at the prospect of adding about 1,000 MW into the State’s grid within six months of letter of allotment to developers after the bid process is completed.

>rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in

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