Tariff trends in Indian solar PV market for 2019

In 2019, India awarded a record 19.2 GWAC of PV capacity at a record low weighted-average price of 2.67 rupees/kWh. In 2019, Not all 2019 auctions in India were fully subscribed as some developers did not participate in ones viewed with unfavorable terms. • Many of the awards occur during large federal auctions as the federal government pushes to meet its 2022 target of 60 GWAC (from 36 GWAC at the end of 2019). – These auctions attracted large IPPs and low tariffs. – 67% of the auctions were above 500 MW, and 96% were greater than or equal to 100 MW. • The Indian government is moving away from what it calls “solar parks”—large auctions where the government picks a piece of land, divides it into plots, provides basic roads, water supply and builds the transmission grid up to the park periphery. Finding huge areas of contiguous land has become an issue, and developers found that facilities were not always worth the high lease costs. • While the capacity-weighted average price was at a record low, the lowest tariff in 2019 was higher than the lowest tariff during the previous two years. – BNEF attributes this to currency depreciation, policy uncertainty, and fears of increased payment delay.

Source: NREL annual report