Secured solar bids allowed to lapse in UP as tariffs found to be ‘significantly higher’ By: Deepa Jainani | May 22, 2021 2:45 AM

Even as developers who had secured bids to install solar projects worth 184 MW in Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency’s (UPNEDA) Phase-4 reverse auction in February 2020 keep waiting for it to issue LoIs to them and sign PPAs, more than 12 months since the auction date, the agency is in the process of writing back to them, stating that since the tariffs discovered in the auction were found to be significantly higher, the finance department had objected to them, as a result of which the bids have now lapsed.

This follows the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), the umbrella organisation for solar energy stakeholders in India, writing a stinging letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath last week, in which it had said that the delay has put a question mark over the viability of these projects, as input costs have risen sharply since. It had also stated that private players, which earlier had big plans to invest in the state, are now refraining from bidding for projects, considering the challenges being faced with respect to difficulty in statute clearances.
Talking to FE, an official of the energy department said, on condition of anonymity that the bid has since expired. “Every bid has a validity period and, in this case, it has expired without being renewed,” he said, adding that the bids of Rs 3.17/unit were allowed to lapse as they were deemed to be too expensive.