(Livemint)
Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) is planning to bid for setting up two solar power projects in Maharashtra totalling 400 megawatts (MW), two people in the know said. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Power Co. Ltd, plans to bid for two separate projects of 150MW and 250MW. “TPREL may invest up to Rs2,000 crore in these projects. Bid strategy and other investment and commercial terms are still being worked out,” the first person cited above said on condition of anonymity.
TPREL, which builds and operates wind and solar power projects, is Tata Power’s primary investment vehicle for clean and renewable energy. In December, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (MSEDCL) invited bids for 1 gigawatt (GW) of grid-connected solar power projects to meet its obligation to buy renewable energy.
MSEDCL supplies power to 1.93 crore consumers across the state. But the tender found no takers as potential bidders feared the central government would implement a recommendation from the Directorate General of Safeguards to impose a 70% duty on solar panels imported from China and Malaysia, which would push up their costs.
