Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a public sector undertaking, has floated a tender for the supply, instrumentation, and construction (I&C) of a module cleaning system for 129 MW of solar photovoltaic projects located at Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Telangana.

The tender has a bid submission deadline of July 12, 2019, and the bids will be opened on the same day.

As reported previously by Mercom, BHEL is setting up these projects at four locations. The sites where the projects are being developed include, 10 MW project at Pegadapally, 30 MW capacity at Manuguru, 50 MW at Ramagundam, and 39 MW at Yellandu. This was then the largest solar project order won by BHEL with a value of ₹5.65 billion (~$ 79.79 million).

The vendors who bid for the project will be involved in the design, supply, I&C for the module cleaning system for the projects. In any project, the solar modules get easily impacted by dust and other harmful particles and require timely cleaning for optimum power generation. Periodic cleaning of the solar modules is necessary to maintain the efficient performance of the installations.

The scope of the tender includes the designing of a module cleaning system, construction of borewell, supply of module cleaning system parts, and I&C for the module cleaning system. BHEL will also take on some activities such as periodic cleaning of modules, unloading materials, and the security of the material.

The module cleaning system needs to be integrated with SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition). SCADA is used to monitor water usage and efficiency of the process.

Interested vendors must have the experience of having completed similar projects during the last five years. The vendors should have completed two similar projects, each costing not less than ₹3 million (~$43,499) or one completed project of similar nature of not less than ₹5 million (~$ 72,498).

Last month, BHEL had floated a tender for the supply of Balance of System (BoS) for this project. Previously, BHEL had also issued a tender to procure 1,500 metric tons of module mounting structure columns for the same projects.

Recently, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had issued a letter recommending efficient utilization of water for cleaning utility-scale solar projects. The ministry said that project developers are currently using too much water for cleaning solar modules, and they should try and minimize wastage. The ministry also recommended the use of robotic cleaning technology, which uses less water for cleaning solar projects.

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