SOLAR POWER PLANTS COMING TO INDIA

India’s solar mission: Phase One Guidelines fall short of industry expectations
Oliver Balch, 13 August 2010 (CSP Today)

"The first phase of India’s solar mission is expected to see proposals for solar thermal projects well in excess of the initial 500MW allocation when the government officially invites requests…August 16…[because of] the potential that developers see in India’s nascent concentrated solar power (CSP) industry, if not wholesale approbation of the bidding guidelines…

"Topping the list of concerns is the “not very attractive” designated tariff of Rupees 15.31 per kWh. Under such terms, developers can have little confidence of achieving a return on equity of 19% in the first decade, as the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) projects. A tariff of between Rs.17 – 18 per kWh [is thought to] be more realistic…[Developers say] government regulator CERC [underestimated project development] capital costs…[M]ore mature CSP markets such as Spain [have] capital investment of Euro 4.5 - 5 million per MW of capacity…[CERC calculated it at] Euro 3.85 million/MW…"

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"Added to these concerns is the reverse auction process…If the 500MW capacity cap for total projects is exceeded, as is widely anticipated, developers will be required to propose discounted tariffs…[testing] projects’ commercial viability even more…[and it] will hit small-scale developers hardest…[P]erformance guarantees of two million rupees (US$42,600) per MW could also exclude less well-capitalised players…

"…[L]arger players fear entry barriers have been set too low, opening the door to heavy speculation by less experienced players and…[exclusion of] serious developers…A proposal to introduce a minimum capacity cap of 10MW [was not included and]… the 100 MW cap set by the guidelines limits more ambitious commercial projects…[A] lack of guarantees coupled with high proposal preparation costs could act as an additional disincentive to large developers…[F]ailed bidders will receive no special preference or priority…[in the 2013] second phase…[but must make] financial closure [in only 180 days] and [have only] 28 months to complete project construction…"

India certainly has the sun. (click to enlarge)

"The guidelines have prompted criticism not only for the conditions they include, but also for those they omit…[There are no] storage or hybridisation projects.

"For all the criticisms of the guidelines, developers still see success in the current bidding stage as important for strategic positioning in the market…"