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Title: NTPC emerges as key off-taker of private solar power projects
Source:Business Standard
Date:27 May 2017

India’s largest power generating utility, NTPC Ltd, is driving the energy transition from coal to solar. Apart from building its own portfolio of renewables, the maharatna utility is emerging as the key off-taker of solar power projects by private developers whose aggressive bids backed by overseas investments have made solar tariff cheaper than coal-fired generation. NTPC’s role as the key off-taker of solar power is contributing significantly to the historic low soar tariffs. “The record low levelised tariff of Rs 3.15 per unit achieved at the Kadapa solar auction in April 2017 was achieved to a great extent because NTPC was the off-taker. As a state-owned entity with a strong balance sheet, NTPC is the strongest renewables power off-taker in India, and its de-risking presence is conducive to securing longer-duration loans at the most competitive borrowing rates, which in turn lowers tariffs. Kadapa was the last of 3 Gw of solar tenders placed by NTPC,” says a report by the US-based Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA).




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