Solar Electricity Price of 14c / KwH (unit) seen in Indian State Orissa Auction, Reaches Retail Electricity Price

The falling prices of solar panels has made almost impossible thought of solar electricity prices possible today. In a state auction of solar projects ,a small company Alex Green Energy bid only 14c/ KwH to win the auction. The price is lower than that seen in the Indian federal subsidy auction JNNSM. Note Rs 7/ Kwh that was bid is close to the Rs 6-7/ Kwh retail electricity prices in most cities in India.Note in the first phase of auction the lowest price was more than 50% higher at Rs 10/ kwh

With Solar Panel prices expected to further decline in 2012, the prices of solar electricity are going to fall more which would make it more attractive for home owners in India  . The government of India which has so far concentrated of giving subsidies to large solar power farms is too thinking of giving subsidies for solar rooftops for small home owners. This would massively turbo charge the solar growth and allow to reach its growth potential. Orissa is thinking of giving a further 50 MW in solar auctions over the next several months. Note a number of India states have been giving individual solar subsidies with Gujarat leading with 1000 MW of projects awarded Feed in Tariffs

State of Solar Energy in India

Gujarat has been a trailblazer in this regard with The State has already received proposals for setting up around  365 MW of Solar Power.Gujarat through its own RPS and Feed in Tariff incentives is targeting 1000 MW by 2013.Rajasthan too is trying to exploit is massive solar insolation potential but its state policies have little clarity or direction yet.The state has signed around 1524 MW of Solar Project with 49 Developers.The Solar Policy Draft Proposal is mostly vague with a target of 10-12 GW  in 10-12 years with around 500 MW in the next 2-3 years.Rajasthan is set to see massive solar installation despite its government’s vagueness from the Federal JNNSM subsidy.Other states in India like UP,Delhi and Maharashtra have recently started making some moves but remains to be seen how good they are at implementing.

Gujarat and Rajasthan Solar Leaders

Gujarat

These states are located near the Thar Desert and have one of the highest insolation in the country.Gujarat is one of the most industrially advanced states in the country and has been pushing renewable energy strongly.The state is promoting solar power throught both RPS and Feed in Tariffs beside promoting Solar Equipment Manufacturing as well.Here are policies promoting solar power in Gujarat.The Gujarat Government is far ahead of other states in rolling out incentives and subsidies for Green Energy.The State has already recieved proposals for setting up around  365 MW of Solar Power.Here are some of the incentives.The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission is the agency responsible for the implementation of the RE policy in the state.The state has already seen giants likE Siemens setting up manufacturing plants to leverage the future growth of Clean Energy in the state.

1) RPS Incentive – Power-distribution companies have been asked to source 5% of their energy requirements for 2010-11 from renewable sources (3% in 2009-10). This will increase to 6% in 2011-12 and 7% in 2012-13. Of this, solar will have to account for 0.25%, 0.5% and 1%, respectively.

2) Solar PV Incentive – Solar producers in Gujarat using the PV technology will get Rs 15 per unit for the first 12 years and Rs 5 per unit from year 13 to year 25. By comparison, thermal and hydro cost Rs 4-6 per unit.

3) Solar Thermal Incentive – For solar-thermal producers, GERC has fixed the tariff at Rs 11 per unit for the first 12 years and Rs 4 per unit from year 13 to year 25.

Bloomberg

Alex Green Energy, a Kolkata-based developer of clean-energy plants, won the right to develop a 5- megawatt project in a solar auction in India’s eastern Odisha state, pledging to supply power at a record-low rate.Alex Green has the option to develop the remaining 20 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity from the auction before it’s offered to other bidders, P.K. Mohan, chief executive officer of the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency, the state-run body overseeing the solar program, said by telephone today.Under auction rules, Alex Green must complete the project by August 2013. Its bid pledges to sell power to the state-run utility at 7,000 rupees ($142) per megawatt-hour, which is about 28 percent the world average for plants using crystalline-based panels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s also the lowest bid seen in India to date.