The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is on the lookout for an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor to develop an 8 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) project at Hubballi airport.

The estimated project cost is ₹455.5 million (~$6.5 million) and the project completion timeframe is eight months from the date of award of the contract. The bid-submission deadline is December 10, 2018.

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

All the items of equipment and installations will be guaranteed to be free from defective workmanship or materials for a period of two years from the date of handing over. According to AAI, PV modules must be warranted for their output peak watt capacity, which should not be less than 90 percent at the end of 10 years and 80 percent at the end of 25 years from the date of successful completion of trial run.

The successful EPC contractor will also provide operation and maintenance services for a five-year period after AAI takes over the project.

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.

In the beginning of November 2018, AAI tendered a 1 MW grid-connected solar PV project at Begumpet airport in Hyderabad.

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: Manjunathk 92 [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons