Large solar photovoltaic projects of up to 20 MW could soon be a reality in India.

Shortly, the Government will be inviting bids for over 300 MW of PV projects under the second batch of the Phase 1 of the National Solar Mission. For this 300 MW it plans to increase the per unit capacity multiples of 5 MW with the maximum of 20 MW. In the earlier round of 150 MW PV projects the maximum capacity was 5 MW.

“The request for proposals (RFPs) for the second batch of new grid projects will soon be invited,” official sources said. The Government will also increase the timeline to achieve financial closure by about a month to around seven months in the second batch for the bidders.

Grid connected solar power generation being a relative new application in the country, the banks and other financial institutions took some time in appraisal of the projects in the first batch.

Increasing project capacity will help developers get better economies of scale, said Mr Sanjay Chakrabarti, Partner at E&Y India. “It will also help attract far bigger players into the sector,” he added.

In the second batch, the Government also proposes to allow group companies to bid for project up to 50 MW. But, not more than three projects, the official said.

JNNSM envisages the implementation of the solar programme including utility grid solar power in three phases – first phase up to 2013 (1,100 MW), second phase up to 2017 (4,000 MW), and third phase up to 2022 (20,000 MW).

NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), the trading arm of NTPC has been designated as nodal agency for sale and purchase of grid connected solar power under Phase-1 of the Mission.

Of the 36 projects (both thermal and PV) in the first batch that had signed power purchase agreements with NVVN, 35 have achieved financial closure while one 5 MW project has failed to meet the requirements. The Government expects to get 610 MW of solar power (both thermal and PV) from first batch.

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