The Indian Air Force’s Chief Engineer in Allahabad has issued tender for a 1.5 MW solar project at the Agra Air Force Station. The project is expected to meet up to 90 percent of its annual energy requirements. Along with the development, the scope of work also includes comprehensive maintenance, manning and operating of the solar power project, further including repairs as and when required.

The bid security amount (EMD) for this tender is ₹1.87 million ($26,555). Project completion time allowed to contractors for the development of this project is 9 months. The estimated cost of the project is ₹79 million ($ 1.1 million).

Bidders who are MNRE channel partners should have successfully completed works of solar power plant development for government departments in the last seven years.

The tender mandates that solar PV modules deployed for the project have to be domestically manufactured and must qualify to the latest edition of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards or equivalent Bureau of Indian standards (BIS).

According to Q3 2018 Mercom India Solar Quarterly Market Update, there is a pipeline of approximately 100 MW of solar projects under the National Solar Mission Defence Program.

Of late, the establishments owned or controlled by Indian defense organizations and departments have been increasingly turning to solar PV technology to cut down power costs.

In July 2018, Mercom reported on the news of SECI issuing a tender for the development of two 1.5 MW (AC) solar power projects with battery energy storage system (BESS) at Tangtse and Durbuk in Leh district of Jammu & Kashmir.

Recently Mercom reported on the news of the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation (KELTRON) issuing a tender to set up a 3 MW grid-connected solar project at Naval Station Ezhimala, located in Kannur district.

Shaurya is a staff reporter at MercomIndia.com with experience working in the Indian solar energy industry for the past four years in various roles. Prior to joining Mercom, Shaurya worked with a renewable energy developer and a consulting company. Shaurya holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.