The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has invited bids for a 22 MW (AC) floating solar grid-connected power project for NTPC Limited.

The project will be installed at Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Project (RGCCPP) at Kayamkulam in Kerala.

Through this tender, BHEL is also looking to procure the balance of systems (BoS) for the project.

The last date for the submission of bids is June 05, 2020 and interested bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹2.03 million (~$26,855) as the earnest money deposit (EMD).

In January 2020, BHEL had floated a tender for the design and supply of a solar floatation platform of 22 MW capacity. In this tender, the vendor had to supply floats and float accessories to fix 95,460 PV modules. BHEL had also issued a tender for conducting a detailed survey for a proposed 22 MW floating solar project in Kerala.

The NTPC had floated a tender for the development of this project in June 2018. This project is financed through NTPC’s internal resources. This was an international tender under which engineering procurement construction (EPC) services were required by NTPC.

To take part in the bidding process, the bidder should have executed similar projects in the last ten years. The bidder should have executed one similar work of at least ₹40 million (~$529,164), or two similar projects, each valued at least ₹25 million (~$330,727), or three similar projects of at least ₹15 million (~$198,436) each.

Also, the bidder should have experience in executing ground-mounted or rooftop solar projects of at least 5 MW capacity. An interested bidder could also have executed floating projects of at least 200 kW or should have some experience in reservoir, lake, or river water activities.

Regarding the financial criteria, the average annual financial turnover of the bidder should not be less than ₹31 million (~$410,102) at the end of the previous financial year.

According to Mercom India’s Solar Project Tracker, Kerala has installed around 100 MW of large-scale solar capacity, with nearly 110 MW under the development pipeline, as of March 2020. Out of this, 102 MW belongs to floating solar projects. Floating solar power projects are usually favored in states where land availability for the development of utility-scale solar projects is an issue.

Recently, BHEL invited bids for the balance of system works for 100 MW (AC) of grid-connected floating solar power projects for NTPC at its Ramagundam power project in Telangana. The estimated cost of the project is ₹175.5 million (~$2.31 million).

Before this, BHEL also bagged an order for setting up a 25 MW floating solar power project located in Simhadri in Andhra Pradesh. The order came from NTPC and was valued at ₹1 billion (~$ 14.57 million). The project will be located on a raw water reservoir in NTPC’s Simhadri Thermal Power project.

Image credit: Sungrow