Indian solar power rates may reach USD 0.052/kWh in 3 yrs - report

Experts from the solar energy industry expect tariffs to decline further, going as low as INR 3.5 (USD 0.052/EUR 0.047) per kWh in three years, Indian newspaper Mint said.

In January Finnish firm Fortum Finnsurya Energy won a 70-MW project in Rajasthan with a bid of INR 4.34 per kWh. This is the lowest so far.

Mint said higher volumes, greater competition and favourable policies would help cut solar power prices further. It cited Pashupathy Gopalan of SunEdison Asia Pacific as saying that the rates sought by solar developers will decline over the coming years as photovoltaics (PV) manufacturing plants grow bigger in size and the cost of manufacturing falls.

Vikram Kailas, managing director at Mytrah Energy Ltd (LON:MYT), was quoted as saying that solar tariffs are expected to keep decreasing by 5% to 8% year-over-year.

Last week consultancy Bridge to India said Indian solar project developers could benefit from a projected decline in the prices of Chinese-made PV panels, which is due to reduced demand in China and Japan and prolonged trade restrictions in the EU and the USA.

Bridge to India said the price decline forecasts come “at a perfect time” for the Indian solar market. It is expected that Q1 2017 would be the biggest quarter in terms of installations, reaching about 2 GW.

(INR 100 = USD 1.484/EUR 1.349)

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