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The Centre is confident that the Gujarat government will offer land for wind energy projects tendered by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in the State.
Project developers had alleged that the State is not leasing land for wind projects auctioned by Central agencies such as SECI. The developers also alleged that Gujarat sought an assured supply of power to the State power distribution company (Discom) in return of land allocation for the projects. The dispute had jeopardised 2,000 MW of centrally bid wind-based power generation projects expected to come up in Gujarat.
“The State government was worried that all the good regions, where wind generation potential is higher, will be taken up for projects that have been bid out through the SECI tenders. This would leave them with no land for the projects they bid out. But the State has been assured that this will not be the case and abundant land will be available for other projects,” an official aware of the discussions between the Centre, State, SECI and developers told BusinessLine .
“The State government is convinced and it is likely to offer land for these projects,” the official added.
Wind power developers in Gujarat are struggling to achieve financial closure for their proposed projects because of this move by the State. The projects won by Inox Wind, Mytrah Energy, ReNew Power, Alfanar Sprng Energy, Green Infra Wind Energy, BPL Energy and Torrent Power are under pressure.
SECI had offered a two-month relief from the levy of a penalty for these projects that were bid out under the second round of wind power auctions.
“If the Gujarat government’s request is acceded to, it will set a dangerous precedent. While the Gujarat discom does not delay payments, other States do. If they follow suit, then it will be difficult for the wind power companies to continue at the same bid levels as the risk for each project goes up,” an official at a wind power project developer had said.
“It is also a breach of contract, because under the SECI auction, the wind power generator sells power to PTC India. This allows us an off-take assurance and poses a lower risk,” the official added.
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