⚡For all solar parks in India, development of land and associated infrastructure are undertaken by state-led Solar Power Park Developer, while conceptualization, market consultations, financial and legal structuring and bid process management are activities undertaken by federal companies, viz., NTPC and SECI. RUMSL, though created only in July 2015, led at the State level and having Rewa as its first project, has the distinction of being the only entity in the country to have undertaken both these roles.
⚡While earlier projects by federal companies were awarded with target tariff of Rs.4.50/unit and the bidding was on Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to reach the target tariff, Rewa project went ahead without any VGF support and achieved a first year tariff of Rs. 2.97/unit. This has been the first project in India with rates of solar power below those of coal-based power, which is presently around Rs 4.50/unit and is expected to increase over the years.
⚡Rewa is the first project in India to be supplying power to an inter-state open access customer, viz., Delhi Metro. This is also the first project in India where solar power would be used for railway traction.
⚡The project got World Bank Group’s President’s Award for excellence for its transaction structure.
⚡The bidding for Rewa went on for 33 hours on February 9 and 10, 2017. Power Purchase Agreements and all other agreements of the project were signed on April 17, 2017 in Bhopal in the presence of Shivraj Singh Chouhan Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh,Venkaih Naidu then Minister of Urban Development and Piyush Goyal then Union Minister of Power, Coal, Mines and New & Renewable Energy. The project was part commissioned on July 5, 2018. Supply to Delhi Metro commenced on April 18, 2019. The project was completed on January 3, 2020. The project was formally inaugurated on July 10, 2020 by the Prime Minister of India Narendra modi.
⚡The Project secured a place in the book on innovations, ‘New Beginnings’ released by the Prime Minister of India Narendra modi, which is a publication of Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, GoI.
⚡Rewa Solar plant is India’s first solar project to get funding from clean technology fund (CTF) which is available at a rate of 0.25% for a 40-year period, and from the World Bank.This has enabled Rewa Project to have very low solar park charges, which was one of the contributing features behind the low tariff achieved in Rewa Project.
⚡Minister of State for Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal informed the Lok Sabha in July 2014 that the government intended to construct a 750 MW solar park in Rewa.
⚡PGCIL was awarded the contract for developing the 220/400 KV substation for the evacuation of power from the project site to different consumers. M/S Alstom was selected by PGCIL to develop the construction of substation work. Internal infrastructure for the project was developed by the RUMSL. RUMSL developed the project site which allowed developers to set up the unit without worrying about the evacuation infrastructure.
🌞AUCTIONS DONE ON REWA ULTRA MEGA SOLAR POWER PLANT 🌞
⚡RUMSL selected developers based on 3 stage assessment viz; Technical Proposal, Financial Proposal, Reverse Auction. RUMSL conducted the bid and reverse auction process using the Electronic Tender Portal hosted by the Telecommunication Consultants India Ltd (TCIL).
⚡The 750 MW capacity was auctioned in three packages of 250 MW each. RUMSL invited bids from solar power developers in January 2017. Twenty firms submitted bids, from which eighteen were shortlisted based on their financial and technical proposal to participate in the bidding process.The reverse auction process for the project involved 33 hours of non-stop bidding by the shortlisted bidders beginning at 10 AM on 9 February 2017. Mahindra susten, ACME Solar Holdings, and Solengeri Power won the first, second and third units quoting tariffs of Rs 2.979, Rs 2.970 and Rs 2.974 for the first year of operations. In Jan 2017, these were the lowest tariffs ever awarded through a bidding process for a solar project in India, however is now higher than the INR 2.44/unit quoted in the new auctions for the Bhadla solar park. International finance corporation was the transaction advisor of the project. The total cost of the project is estimated around ₹4,500 crore.
🌞Special Project Features:
- Perfect example of ‘plug & play’, and how it can bring down solar prices in India.
- Initiative by state rather than federal companies. Largest solar power tender led by a State and not led by CPSUs.
- Demonstrated that solar energy can become viable on commercial principles and does not need subsidy (Viability Gap Funding).
- First project in India supplying power to an inter-state open access customer.
- World Bank loan, as also from clean technology fund (CTF) for the development of 33/220 KV Pooling substations to evacuate power from the Rewa Solar power project.
- PGCIL developed the 220/400 kV Inter-state transmission system for Rewa Solar Power Plant to different power purchasers.
- First project to get funding from Clean Technology Fund (CTF) in India.
- Innovative design of Contracts to address the varying demand pattern of the off-takers.
- Three tier payment security Mechanism for the procurer – First time in India.
- Innovative Payment Security Fund (PSF) was developed along with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), based on commercial principles rather than budgetary allocation.
🌞How does the Rewa Solar Power Plant match up to similar plants in India and abroad?
🌞The 750- megawatt Rewa solar Power Plant in Madhya Pradesh was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 10. The plant consists of three solar power generating units that are located on a 500-hectare plot of land inside a 1,500-hectare solar park.
⚡The 750- megawatt Rewa solar Power Plant in Madhya Pradesh was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (July 10). The solar plant was set up by the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited, a joint venture between Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited and the Centre’s Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). The project has also received Rs 138 crore financial assistance from the central government.
⚡The plant consists of three solar power generating units that are located on a 500-hectare plot of land inside a 1,500-hectare solar park. Mahindra Renewables Pvt, Arinsun Clean Energy Pvt, and ACME Jaipur Solar Power Pvt are the three companies that bagged the mandate to build the three generating units, with a bulk of the equipment for it coming from China.
⚡The 750-MW solar plant is quite large in terms of scale, and is expected to reduce the country’s emission drastically, by an amount equivalent to 15 lakh tonne of carbon dioxide annually. But while it is one of the largest single-site solar power plants in India, it is not the largest in Asia.
⚡Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), the implementing agency of the project, is a joint venture between the Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikash Nigam Limited (MPUVNL) and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
🌞Project Specific Points:
⚡Minimum tariff of the time for solar projects received from Rewa Solar Project: 2.97 per unit for first year (without Viability Gap Funding)
⚡Revenue land allotted for the project: 1255.68 hacteres.
⚡Private land purchased under the ‘mutual consent policy’ of the state government: 300 hectares
⚡Amount received by the state as registration from developers: Rs 7.5 crore
🌞Other Project Points
1) Participation in transparent tender process by 20 international and national companies
2) Construction of 220/400 kV sub-station without the expense of state ROMS
3) Recognition of project contracts at the national level as a model by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India
4) Co, blockage of 15.4 lakh tonnes annually from the project, which is equivalent to planting 26 million trees
5) Rewa Solar Project named for Prime Minister’s “Book of Innovation”
6) Received “President Award” from World Bank for World Bank and the first project Transaction structure with CTF loan.
🌞Why The Rewa Plant Is Critical To India's Solar Energy Ambitions?
⚡On 15 February, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an interesting observation in his inaugural speech for the first RE-Invest global summit in New Delhi. He remarked that Indian energy sector has been thinking in terms of Mega Watts (MW), but for the first time, India had started talking about Giga Watts (GW).
⚡It was inconceivable that India aimed at 100 GW of installed solar power capacity by 2022, given that the entire country had under 3 GW of existing installations when the Modi government took over. Yet, the ambitious target set clearly signalled the government’s intent to make solar energy an integral part of Indian energy security strategy.