New Delhi, India
NTPC Renewable Energy Limited (NTPC REL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Green Energy Limited, has secured 500 MW of contracted capacity in the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI) Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy tender, designated FDRE-IX, at a discovered tariff of ₹6 per kWh. The e-reverse auction concluded on August 21, 2026.
The tender sought developers capable of delivering assured renewable power during daily peak-demand periods, backed by co-located energy storage. Waaree Energies emerged as the lowest bidder at ₹5.99 per kWh, with NTPC REL and Acme Solar Holdings securing 500 MW and 750 MW, respectively, at ₹6 per kWh. Fourteen other companies bid for the tender but did not make the winning list, including SAEL Industries, ReNew Solar Power, Juniper Green Energy and NLC India Renewables.
Tender Structure
SECI-FDRE-IX was structured to select renewable energy developers to set up Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS)-connected projects with co-located Energy Storage Systems on a Build-Own-Operate basis. The tender’s contracted capacity was revised from an initial 1,500 MW down to 1,200 MW, providing an assured peak power supply of 4,800 MWh, equivalent to 1,200 MW for four hours daily. Winning developers will sign 25-year power purchase agreements with SECI, which will act as an intermediary procurer selling the power to distribution companies on a back-to-back basis.
Under the tender’s operating requirements, each megawatt of contracted capacity must deliver 4,000 kWh during a four-hour peak window nominated daily by the buying entity, drawn from defined non-solar evening and night hours. Developers may also use their storage assets to generate additional revenue outside the contracted peak window, for instance, through power exchange trading, provided their PPA obligations are met first.
Tariff in Context
The ₹6/kWh tariff discovered in this auction continues a broader downward trend across SECI’s recent FDRE tenders. In February 2026, SECI’s FDRE Tranche-VII auction cleared at ₹6.27–6.28/kWh, with Serentica Renewables and ACME Solar each securing 600 MW at the higher end of that range. A separate round-the-clock FDRE tender concluded in early August 2026 at a lower ₹5.25/kWh, though that tender carried different structural terms. NTPC REL itself has a track record of winning capacity at sharply varying tariffs depending on tender structure, the company secured 500 MW of standalone solar capacity paired with storage at ₹3.52/kWh in a December 2024 SECI auction, and 1,000 MW of solar-only capacity at ₹2.56/kWh in a January 2025 UPPCL auction, both considerably lower than FDRE-linked tariffs, reflecting the additional cost of guaranteeing power delivery during specific peak hours rather than supplying whenever generation is available.
Why Assured Peak Power Matters
FDRE tenders address a structural limitation of standalone solar and wind generation: output that peaks during daylight or favourable wind conditions doesn’t necessarily align with when electricity demand is highest. By requiring co-located storage and contractually guaranteed peak-hour delivery, SECI’s FDRE framework shifts the commercial proposition from “how much renewable capacity can be built” to “how reliably can that capacity be delivered when the grid actually needs it?”
This has direct relevance for industrial and manufacturing electricity consumers. As manufacturing operations become more automated, electrified and digitally connected, unplanned power interruptions carry a higher production cost than they once did. A power system with a deeper base of contracted, dispatchable renewable capacity gives industrial consumers a more predictable clean-energy option, rather than one entirely dependent on real-time solar or wind availability.
Broader Portfolio Context
NTPC Green Energy has been an active bidder across SECI’s evolving renewable tender formats. Beyond this FDRE-IX win, the company has previously secured a 200 MW/800 MWh standalone battery energy storage system contract from West Bengal’s state distribution utility WBSEDCL. NTPC Group’s broader renewable energy portfolio has been expanding rapidly since NTPC Green Energy’s November 2024 stock market debut, with the company targeting 60 GW of renewable capacity by 2032.