Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) has invited bids to procure 298 MW of solar power from decentralized solar projects of 500 kW to 2 MW capacity under Component A of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) in Maharashtra.

The last date to submit the bids is September 5, 2022. Bids will be opened on the same day.

Bidders will have to submit ₹100,000 (~$1,261)/MW as an earnest money deposit.

Under Component A of the PM-KUSUM program, the government aims to set up 10,000 MW of grid-connected solar power projects of individual project size of up to 2 MW.

The projects must be commissioned within 12 months of the issuance of the letter of award.

MSEDCL will enter into power purchase agreements (PPA) with the successful bidders for the purchase of solar power for 25 years from the commercial operation date of the projects.

Only commercially established and operational technologies can be used to minimize the technology risk and achieve the projects’ timely commissioning.

Bidders can participate as an individual or group of farmers, cooperatives, panchayats, farmer producer organizations, or water user organizations setting up the project on their lands. If bidders cannot arrange the capital, they may set up the projects through a developer signing a land lease agreement.

The lease rent to be paid to the landowner will be ₹30,000 (~$378.33) per acre per year with a yearly increment of 3%. The tenure for the lease agreement will be between 26 and 30 years, as agreed by both parties.

Individual farmers, farmer groups, cooperatives, panchayats, farmer producer organizations, water user associations, and farmers setting up the project on their lands are not required to meet the financial eligibility requirement.

If a developer sets up the project on leased land, the net worth of the bidder should not be less than ₹10 million (~$126,110)/MW of the quoted capacity.

Bidders must have a minimum annual turnover of ₹2.5 million (~$31,527)/MW of the quoted capacity during the last financial year.

They should have an internal resource generation capability in the form of profit before depreciation, interest, and taxes (PBDIT) for a minimum of ₹1 million (~$12,611)/MW of the quoted capacity.

Bidders should have an in-principle approval letter from the lending institutions committing a line of credit for a minimum amount of ₹1.25 million (~$15,763)/MW of the quoted capacity toward meeting the working capital requirement of the project.

The project should be designed to deliver energy at the 11/22 kV substation of MSEDCL.

The responsibility of getting the grid connectivity with MSEDCL will entirely be on the successful bidder. Power transmission up to the interconnection point and energy accounting infrastructure will also be the successful bidder’s responsibility.

The declared capacity utilization factor should, in no case, be less than 15% over a year.

In May this year, MSEDCL invited bids to procure 431 MW of solar power from decentralized solar projects of 500 kW to 2 MW capacity under Component-A of the PM-KUSUM program.

Earlier, MSEDCL invited bids to procure 445 MW of power from decentralized solar projects of 500 kW to 2 MW capacity under Component A of the PM-KUSUM program.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, MSEDCL has so far floated tenders for 2.9 GW of solar projects under the PM-KUSUM program.