The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is on the lookout for an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor to develop a 1 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) project at Begumpet airport in Hyderabad. The project should be connected to 33 kV transmission line.

The estimated project cost is ₹56,764,170 (~$786581.10) and the project completion timeframe is five months from the date of award of the contract. The bid-submission deadline is November 22, 2018.

The scope of work includes site survey, shadow analysis, complete design for optimal use of space, engineering, manufacture, supply, storage, insurance, civil work, erection, testing, and commissioning of the grid-connected solar PV project.

AAI has also stated that the successful EPC contractor will provide operation and maintenance (O&M) services for a 12-year period. AAI has fixed O&M cost at ₹14,923,776 (~$206798.76) for the entire O&M period.

The AAI, which comes under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is a statutory authority responsible for the creation, management, and upgradation of civil aviation infrastructure in India.

This tender shows AAI’s commitment towards becoming carbon neutral. AAI is seeking to use solar as a low-cost and renewable source of power to fuel operations at various airports across India.

Recently, AAI had issued another EPC tender for a 1.2 MW grid-connected solar PV project at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (LBSI) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

Moreover, in January 2018, CIAL Infrastructures Ltd. concluded the bidding process for the development of 9.9 MW of grid-connected solar projects at Cochin airport. That same month, a 700 kW rooftop solar PV project was nearing completion at the Ahmedabad airport, and the power generated by that project was expected to be used for captive consumption at the airport.

In December 2017, a 15 MW grid-connected solar PV project was inaugurated at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Image credit: By Anil Singhal  [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons