JSW Renew Energy, a subsidiary of JSW Energy, has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for 540 MW of blended wind power capacity. The blended wind power projects include those projects where wind power is blended with solar power and the wind power component makes up at least 80 per cent of the capacity. In September 2020, JSW Future Energy had received the letter of award for a total blended wind capacity of 810 MW from SECI.
In September 2019, SECI had invited bids to develop 1,200 MW of interstate transmission system connected wind projects under Tranche IX of the programme. In July 2020, SECI revised the tender increasing the capacity to 2.5 GW and also changed the description of the tender as a blended wind power project. In the auction held for these projects in August 2020, Vena Energy and JSW Solar emerged as winners to develop a total capacity of 970 MW. Vena Energy won 160 MW of projects at a bid of Rs 2.99 per kWh, while JSW Solar was awarded 810 MW of projects at Rs 3 per kWh under the bucket filling method. JSW had originally placed bids for 970 MW of projects.
In July 2020, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) sanctioned the scheme for tariff-based competitive bidding for the procurement of renewable power from 2,500 MW of ISTS-connected blended wind power projects, which will be implemented by SECI. It has also released guidelines for this scheme.According to the guidelines, the main objective of the scheme is to provide a framework for the procurement of electricity from 2,500 MW of ISTS-connected wind power projects with solar PV blending of up to 20 per cent. The scheme has been released to ensure the availability of renewable energy to discoms at competitive rates and to further develop the wind power sector in India.