Hindustan Salts seeks EPC for 100 MW project in Gujarat

Hindustan Salts Limited, a government-owned company established for salt extraction in the region, has invited bids to develop a 100 MW solar PV project in Kharaghoda, Gujarat, India.

As reported by Mercom Capital, the project will be developed on a revenue sharing model, as all the power generated by the facility will be sold into the market.

With June 5 as the submission deadline, the successful bidder will be expected to provide both EPC and O&M for the project for a 25-year period.

Meanwhile, Hindustan Salts will arrange the PPA with authorized government bodies, and provide land for the project. Once the contract is awarded, the project completion timeframe will be 180 days.

Earlier this year, the company’s subsidiary Sambhar Salts Limited invited expressions of interest to develop a 100 MW solar project in Sambhar, Rajasthan, on a revenue sharing basis.

The pronounced shift to solar in India’s coal-dominated market comes as a result of the relentless fall in solar costs.

With solar not only reaching, but going below grid parity, the outlook for coal is getting gloomier, with coal power projects being suspended or canceled over the last three months.

Moreover, as solar tariffs decline, the cost of coal power is rising in India, finds a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, pointing out that it is becoming more costly to mine at home, and more difficult due to tougher environmental regulations.

Following a string of federal auctions in 2017, India’s solar tariffs were driven down to INR 2.44 ($ 0.037)/kWh, which is lower than state utility NTPC’s average tariffs for existing coal-fired fleet (INR 3.20/kWh).