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Price of Solar Plus Battery Hits Record Low in Indian Tender

An arial shot of solar panels at the Weesow-Willmersdorf solar park, operated by EnBW Energie Baden-Wrttemberg AG, in Werneuchen, Germany, on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022. The European Union seeking to double solar capacity to 320GW by 2025 and to hit 600GW by the end of the decadewhich would make solar Europe's biggest source of electricity, whereas today it's not even in the top five. Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz/Bloomberg (Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- A developer in India has bid the lowest price to date to build solar plus battery capacity in the country. 

Pace Digitek Infra Pvt Ltd quoted 3.41 rupees ($0.04) per unit to develop 100 MW as part of a larger project of grid-connected solar energy, plus 600MW of storage. 

Cheaper modules and falling battery prices, combined with improved solar manufacturing capacity in the country, likely encouraged the developer to offer such a low tariff, said Vibhuti Garg, South Asia director at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

The tender mandated the use of domestically produced equipment, a protectionist measure the government has been pushing to reduce India’s reliance on Chinese manufacturers.

The deployment at scale of battery storage, still at a nascent state in India, is key to achieving the nation’s goal of reaching 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuels capacity by the end of the decade. That would help meet growing power demand, which the government is currently planning to tackle by expanding coal capacity. 

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.