SAEL Industries, NLC India, and KPI Green Energy have emerged as the winners in Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam’s tender for 800 MW of solar, with an additional 800 MW under a greenshoe option. The winning developers will set up solar power projects in Khavda Solar Park on a build-own-operate basis.

SAEL Industries secured 400 MW and NLC India 300 MW at a tariff of INR 2.71 ($0.031)/kWh each. KPI Green Energy won 100 MW at INR 2.70/kWh.

A prominent developer told pv magazine that the winning prices are similar to those discovered in the last round of bidding for Khavda Solar Park. The project site poses some challenges, but the benefits of land availability and evacuation arrangements far outweigh them, according to the developer.

The project site is close to the seashore, so salinity could affect the solar panels and other equipment. In addition, the solar structure needs to be designed to withstand high wind speeds (200 km/hour) in the zone. The best part of this project is that all the basic infrastructure, including land on lease for 25 years, is provided by GUVNL against an upfront amount as per the tender document.