Gujarat govt bought solar power from private players

Gujarat govt bought solar power

Despite discovering that developers are willing to sell solar for as little as Rs 1.99 per unit, the Gujarat government purchased more than 6.2 billion units of solar power at prices ranging from Rs 9.13 to Rs 15 per unit. to private energy producers during the last five years.

The data, presented by the state government at the recently concluded budget session of the state legislature, shows that between April 2015 and March 2020, Gujarat purchased solar power from a total of 61 private players under the 2009 Solar Power Policy. Of these private entities, 38 sold power to Gujarat at Rs 15 per unit, while the remaining 23 players sold Rs 9.13 to Rs 13.59 per unit.

In addition to the 6.2 billion units of solar power, the state government purchased an additional 573 million units of power from the same 61 private players from April to September 2020, the government stated in its written response to a question without an asterisk posed by the Chotta Udepur MLA Congress, Mohansinh Rathwa.

The Gujarat government purchases power from different entities through Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL).

During this five-year period, the maximum solar power was purchased from Adani Power Limited, which sold 328 million units at 15 rupees per unit. There was a 10.2 percent increase in the amount of energy purchased from the Adani Group.

The government purchased more than 200 million units of energy at 15 rupees per unit from each of the private entities, including Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (210 million units), GMR Gujarat Solar Ltd (200 million units), Lorox BioEnergy Ltd (208 million units), Roha Dyechem Pvt Ltd (209 million units) and Alex Astral Power Pvt Ltd (207 million units).

Only 14 million units were purchased from Texas Infrastructure and Project Pvt Ltd, selling at Rs 9.13 per unit, the cheapest energy among the 61 players.

Experts in the energy sector in Gujarat say that although the price of solar energy has dropped considerably, the government has continued to pay the 2010 tariffs to private companies. For example, in a 500 MW auction of solar projects conducted by GUVNL in December 2020, Rs 1.99 per unit was the lowest bid. GUVNL officials said the state government is paying 15 rupees per unit under the 2010-11 power purchase agreements.

“There are Supreme Court judgments related to our PPAs that cannot be reopened. Also, renewable energy is largely a one-time investment that companies must recoup, ”said a GUVNL official.