The Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA) has issued two requests for proposal (RfP) inviting bidders to develop grid-connected floating solar power projects. While one project of up to 2 MW will be developed on private water bodies, another 2 MW is slated to be developed on a government-owned water body.

The first RfP states that the floating projects should be installed at private water bodies of the state for a cumulative capacity of up to 2 MW. The projects are to be set up on a build own operate basis (BOO). State distribution companies will enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the winning bidders for the procurement of solar energy for  25 years.

The online bid submission deadline is September 12, 2019. The date for the submission of the tender document and earnest money deposit (EMD) is September 13, 2019. Mandatory bid security or EMD of ₹0.2 million (~$ 2,779.12) must be deposited by interested bidders in favor of BREDA.

The smallest capacity that can be bid for in this project is 250 kW. The maximum capacity is up to 2 MW. The bidder will have to set up the floating SPV project and the transmission network until the delivery point.

The bidder needs to be a corporate entity in India under the Companies Act. The bidder can be a limited liability partnership firm (LLP), a partnership firm, a registered proprietorship, a joint venture, or a bidding consortium. The winning bidder can also choose to execute the project through a special purpose vehicle. The bidding companies should have commissioned SPV-based grid-connected power projects of an aggregate capacity of 200 kW or above and should have a net worth of ₹4,000 (~$ 55)/kW in the best three out of the last five financial years. Interested parties should have a minimum average turnover of ₹8,000 (~$110)/kW in the best three of the previous five financial years, and should not have any form of legal liabilities.

Besides the above tender, BREDA has also floated another RfP to procure power from grid-connected floating SPV power projects of up to 2 MW to be developed at a government waterbody located at NBPDCL circle in the state’s Darbhanga district. The project will be developed on a BOO basis with a 25-year PPA. The winning bidder will need to pay BREDA ₹0.03 (~$ 0.004)/kW towards Bihar Renewable Energy Development Fund. The bidders must quote project capacities between 1.5 MW to 2 MW.

The bid submission deadline is September 12, 2019, for this tender. The submission of the tender document and EMD will have to be done on September 13, 2019. The technical bid opening date is September 13, 2019. An EMD of ₹0.4 million (~$ 5,558.25) must be paid by the bidder to participate in this tender.

To be eligible to bid for the RfP, the bidder should be a legitimate corporate, LLP, partnership firm, or a joint venture in India. Bidders should have commissioned grid-connected SPV projects of an aggregate installed capacity equal to at least 500 kW or more. The bidder should have a net worth of ₹5 million (~$ 69,478) in the best three out of the last five financial years. The least average turnover of the interested bidder should be ₹10 million (~$ 0.13 million) in the best three of the previous five financial years.

Recently, ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals, a greenfield petrochemicals project promoted by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and its subsidiary, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, had invited bids for a grid-interactive floating SPV project of 2 MW capacity to be installed in its premises.

Mercom had also reported that the National Thermal Power Corporation had retendered and invited fresh bids for a 20 MW floating solar project.

Image Credit: Mercom