The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited bids to develop renewable energy-based solutions for meeting energy requirements in remote high-altitude areas (HAA) of the Himalayas.

The project will be based on renewable energy or storage sources or a combination of both that can be deployed under hostile climatic conditions for meeting energy requirements.

The project will be developed through an independent power producer (IPP) or engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) model. It will be entirely funded by the government of India through SECI.

In January 2019, Leh and Kargil, two of India’s most difficult and inhospitable terrains in the Himalayas, were connected to the national electricity grid.

The last date for the submission of bids is November 06, 2020.

As per the tender document, the project should be modular that can be replicated under similar conditions. The solution to be developed should be easy to dismantle, assemble, transport, deploy, commission, operate, and should require minimum maintenance during operation. The useful life for such a solution or system as envisaged by SECI is ten years.

The timeframe for the completion of the project has been set as 18 months.

The project will be developed at high altitude areas in the Himalayan region. The temperature will be in the range of +2° C to -50° C. There will be no firm ground for the mounting structures, and the project will have to be developed on snow. The location is likely to be inaccessible by road, and every component will have to be transported on a backpack. The fuel will have to be transported in small containers (20-25 liters) and stored for at least 90 days.

Recently, Power Roll began the installation of an innovative solar mini-grid system to generate and store energy in a rural village located in Mukteshwar, situated in the Himalayas. The company teamed up with The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) to install a modular system that comprises lightweight, portable solar to generate energy and an energy storage capability to enable energy use at night.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy plans to develop 23 GW of ultra-mega solar projects in the Leh and Ladakh regions of Jammu & Kashmir. Under phase-I of the project of setting up 2,500 MW solar capacity in the Kargil region and 5,000 MW in the Leh district, SECI has already invited bids. The government envisions Ladakh to be a major renewables hub in India.