Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has invited bids for the operation and maintenance of a 65 MW solar power project in Tamil Nadu for NLC India for 19 months.

The last day to submit the bids is May 16, 2023. The bids will be opened the next day.

Bidders must submit an earnest money deposit of ₹786,800 (~$9,628).

The successful participant must furnish an amount equivalent to 5% of the total contract value as performance security.

The vendor should engage maintenance personnel to carry out solar panel cleaning, vegetation removal, outer yard HT maintenance, and transformer oil filtration works.

Purchase preference will be given to micro and small enterprises (MSEs). If the lowest bidder (L-1) is not an MSE and the MSE service provider has quoted a price within L-1+ 15% of margin, then 100% order quantity will be awarded to such MSE bidder subject to acceptance of the L1 bid price.

Moreover, BHEL has stated that bidders must visit the site and study the job content, facilities available, materials, and prevailing site conditions, including law and order situation, applicable wage structure, and wage rules, before quoting for the tender.

Depending upon the technical requirements, the contractor should erect and commission all the equipment and auxiliaries per the sequence and methodology prescribed by BHEL.

If the contractor fails to maintain the required progress of work, which results in a delay in the completion of the work, BHEL will have the right to impose liquidated damages at the rate of 0.5% of the contract value per week of delay or part thereof, subject to a maximum of 10% of the contract value.

In March, BHEL invited bids for the O&M of 100 MW solar projects for the Gujarat State Electricity Corporation at Raghanesda solar park for ten years.

Earlier, BHEL invited bids for the O&M of 12.5 MW of solar projects installed at its Trichy facility for one year.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, BHEL has floated O&M tenders for 1.12 GW of solar power projects to date.