The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued guidelines for tariff-based competitive bidding process for procurement of renewable energy from 2,500 MW interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected blended wind power projects. The scheme will be implemented by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). The scheme aims to provide a framework for procurement of electricity from 2.5 GW of ISTS-connected wind power projects. The rated power capacity of the wind power project should be at least 80 per cent of the total contracted capacity andthe remaining capacity would be of solar projects (hence, called blended wind power). The power procured from the project may be used for the fulfilment of solar and non-solar renewable purchase requirements in the proportion of rated capacity of solar and wind power in the plant respectively.
The solar and wind power projects may be located at the same or different nearby locations. However, the individual wind and solar component constituting the blended wind power project will inject power into the grid through the same point. The minimum size of an individual project under the scheme is 50 MW at a particular site.