NHPC Discovers A Tariff Of Rs 3.13/kWh For Its 1.2 GW Solar+ESS Project

In yet another interesting solar plus energy storage project, Indian agencies have been able to witness a tariff of as low as Rs 3.13/kWh. The latest tariff was discovered by NHPC Limited in its 1.2 GW solar project tender. The renewable energy implementing agency declared the results of the tender today. 

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The public sector utility awarded its 1.2 GW solar project, along with 600 MW/2,400 MWh of energy storage systems (ESS), to five developers at a uniform tariff of ₹3.13/kWh. With this tender, tariffs for solar projects with four hours of storage have dropped to ₹3.13/kWh, down from some of the recently discovered tenders ₹3.52/kWh and ₹3.32/kWh in earlier rounds.

The tender was issued in March 2025, and the results were announced four months later. The five winning bidders are Reliance Infrastructure, PNC Infratech, JBM Renewables, Navayuga Engineering Company, and SAEL Industries. NHPC allotted different project sizes to each bidder at the same tariff.

According to NHPC’s results, Reliance Infrastructure secured the largest share with a 390 MW project. PNC Infratech and SAEL Industries each won 300 MW, while JBM Renewables secured 150 MW. Navayuga Engineering Company received 60 MW of the 200 MW it had quoted under the bucket-filling method, also at ₹3.13/kWh.

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List Of Winning Bidders

Previous Tender: A Brief Analysis

In an earlier solar-plus-storage tender issued by NHPC this year, bids ranged between ₹3.09 and ₹3.10/kWh. In the tender, NHPC had awarded 100 MW to Onix Renewables at a tariff of as low as ₹3.09/kWh. Other winners included Jindal India Renewable Energy (180 MW), Kolar Solar Power (150 MW), and NTPC REL (300 MW). ReNew Solar Power and Adani Renewable Energy Holding won 300 MW and 170 MW, respectively, who bagged the tender at a quoted tariff of ₹3.10/kWh.

Additionally, many of the winning bidders for NHPC's latest project are repeat winners in solar-plus-storage tenders, having previously secured similar projects from SJVN, hinting at their expanding portfolios in the new format of renewable energy tenders.

Nevertheless, another government agency-SJVN, in its 1.2 GW solar-plus-energy-storage tender, awarded the bids to six developers, including Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance NU Energies, Sembcorp Industries Ltd., Jindal India Renewable Energy, JBM Group, SAEL Ltd., and Fastnote Biofuels (Hindustan Power).

In that tender, Fastnote Biofuels won 100 MW at the lowest bid price of Rs 3.30/kWh, Reliance Nu Energies walked away with the largest share of 600 MW with a quoted tariff of Rs 3.33/kWh. Jindal India Renewable Energy (300 MW), JBM Group(150 MW), Sembcorp Green Infra (150 MW), and SAEL Ltd (150 MW) were each awarded the project with their allocated capacities at a tariff of Rs 3.32/unit.

In the recent few months, solar+ESS projects have gained momentum and have created new records, hinting at a transition that is empowering the Indian renewable sector to allow converting their variable renewable energy into firm power. Lower costs of global raw materials for energy storage, advanced technologies, a roadmap of ESS tenders have now bolstered the confidence of the firms who are jumping onto the bandwagon to expand their portfolio in either standalone ESS projects of solar+BESS projects.