Reverse bidding to continue in green energy auction: Minister

The government will continue to conduct auctions in renewable energy through the transparent mechanism of reverse bidding and will not accept any unreasonable bids for renewables like solar and wind, Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a curtain raiser event for the forthcoming 2nd Global RE-INVEST conference, Singh said that a study commissioned by the Ministry had reported that the reverse bidding system would be beneficial for the renewable sector.

"We will accept bids which are reasonable. If we come across bids which we consider to be excessive, we will cancel them," he said.

"We had commissioned a study. They have said the reverse bidding system would be totally transparent and good for the sector."

The reverse auction helps in discovering the best tariff for consumers as these have emerged from solar and wind auctions in the last one year.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is organising RE-INVEST II conference here from October 2 -5, which is expected to be attended by ministerial delegations from abroad including International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) member countries, among others.

As per an MNRE release, the second RE-INVEST aims at accelerating the worldwide effort to scale up renewable energy and connect the global investment community with Indian energy stakeholders.

"The 2nd RE-INVEST is expected to be attended by Ministerial delegations from across the world, including ISA and IORA Member Countries, over 600 global industry leaders, and 10,000 delegates," it said.

Describing the progress made in the sector after RE-INVEST I was organised here in 2015, Singh said: "We have established a capacity of 37 gigawatt (GW) in the last four years. We are going to expand. More investment will come. Now renewable energy capacity in the country is around 73 GW." - IANS