The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) has invited expression of interest (EoI) for empaneled agencies to design, supply, install, and commission 30 MW of rooftop solar grid-connected power projects in the Bengaluru.

The projects will be developed on the rooftops of residential buildings, group housing societies, and residential welfare associations in the BESCOM jurisdiction and will be developed under the net metering program. The contract will also include the maintenance contract for five years under the Soura Gruha Yojana.

The last date for the submission of bids is April 07, 2020, and a pre-bid meeting will take place on March 17, 2020.

Currently, the rooftop installations in Karnataka account for 234 MW against the target capacity of 2.4 GW by March 2021, according to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker.

Recently, four leading rooftop solar developers in the state petitioned the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) against Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission’s order, which was issued in December 2019.  The developers including, Amplus Solar, Fourth Partner Energy, ReNew Power, and Cleantech Solar, have filed petitions separately, requesting the Commission to bring all the stakeholders on board before coming to any conclusion.

In December last year, the KERC had issued an order which proposes various business models for rooftop solar. The Commission also felt that there was a need for a proactive and constructive role by the distribution licensees to facilitate smaller consumers to install solar systems at optimal cost, either through investment form the consumers or through third party investments by the distribution licensees themselves. In its order, the Commission said that the sale of energy by a third-party investor to the consumer would attract the payment of cross-subsidy surcharge and additional surcharge. The commission also notes that the exemption from levying such charges for a limited period might be granted in case of all low tension (LT) domestic consumers. However, for other consumers with gross metering, the question of levying cross-subsidy surcharge and additional surcharge does not arise.