Bureau of Energy Efficiency, an agency under the Ministry of Power, has invited bids to hire agencies to develop energy benchmarking for electric vehicles (EVs) and EV chargers and estimate the impact of EV chargers on the grid.

The last date to submit the bids is March 31, 2022.

Why benchmarking?

BEE is designated as the Central Nodal Agency by the Ministry of Power to roll out public charging infrastructure in the country. With the growing number of EVs, planning of location for public charging stations, the impact of EV charging on the electricity grid, integration of solar PVs with public charging infrastructure remains a challenge. Moreover, there is a complete absence of benchmarks to provide the prospective EV consumers an informed choice about the energy performance of various elements of the EV ecosystem, including the EV supply equipment, EV chargers, and EVs. BEE has recently introduced a star labeling program for high-energy lithium-ion traction battery packs and systems for EVs.

BEE is looking to hire two agencies with relevant experience providing consultancy on developing energy consumption methodologies (like the star-labeling programs) and e-mobility technologies. The consultants also have to plan the grid and electricity distribution infrastructure and conduct load flow studies, tariff studies, load flow analysis, and integration of renewable technologies with the grid.

Scope of work

The scope of work is divided into two modules:

• Module 1: Energy Performance Benchmarking

Under this module, the agency should collaborate with a reputed Indian or International Research and Development (R&D) Institute with proven experience in the areas to be covered under the module. The agency will be required to submit the proof of agreement and cooperation clearly stating the terms of cooperation with the R&D institute.

• Module 2 – New Technologies and Assessment of Impact on Grid

In this module, the agency will collaborate with an Indian or international R&D institute of repute with proven experience in the areas covered under the module. The agency will be required to submit the proof of agreement and cooperation clearly stating the terms of cooperation with the R&D institute.

Eligibility criteria – Module 1

To participate in the bidding process under Module 1, the bidder should have completed five projects related to the design and development of energy performance benchmarking programs for the appliance, equipment, vehicles, storage batteries products for the grid, traction application, buildings, processes for either BEE or any other government of India regulator or an international regulator in the last five years.

The bidder should have additional experience of completing at least five projects in consultancy related to any of the fields, namely development of testing protocols and standards for EV, smart meters, lithium-ion batteries or any other ACC batteries, power electronic converters, motors, and EVSE communication protocols and networks in last five years.

The bidder should have a minimum annual turnover of ₹300 million (~$3.94 million) during the last three financial years. The bidder should have been profitable for at least two of the last three financial years.

Eligibility criteria – Module 2

Under Module 2, the bidder should have additional experience of completing at least ten projects in consultancy related to any of the areas, namely grid augmentation & automation, conducting electricity grid network planning simulations, load flow simulation studies, grid infrastructure planning, EV charging infrastructure planning, design of smart metering networks, renewable Integration in grid metering or development of software tools for planning of electricity networks and infrastructure in the last five years.

The bidder’s minimum annual turnover for the last three financial years should be ₹300 million (~$3.94 million). The bidder should have been profitable for any two of the last three financial years. Also, the bidder should have worked on e-mobility projects.

If the vendor fails to complete all delivery and implementation according to the project schedule, BEE reserves the right to recover liquidated damages at 1% of the contract value for each whole week, for delay up to a maximum of 10% of the contract value. After that, BEE will have the right to terminate the contract in case of delay beyond ten weeks and would have the option to execute the project from the market at the vendor’s risk and cost.

Bank guarantee

Interested bidders will have to submit an amount equivalent to ₹200,000 (~$2,628) as an earnest money deposit to participate in the bidding process.

The successful bidders will have to submit an amount equivalent to 3% of the value of the contract as a performance bank guarantee.

In January this year, the Ministry of Power issued the revised ‘Charging Infrastructure for EVs Guidelines’ to accelerate the e-mobility transition in the country. The guidelines aim to enable faster adoption of EVs in India by ensuring safe, reliable, accessible, and affordable charging infrastructure and ecosystem. Another objective is to provide affordable tariffs for charging station operators/owners and EV owners and proactively support the creation of EV charging infrastructure.

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