The Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) has extended the bid submission deadline for its tender seeking solar power developers to set up 275 MW of grid-connected solar power projects in the state’s solar park.

In a corrigendum to the request for proposal for the projects, the UPNEDA extended the deadline for submitting bids to March 11, 2021, from March 1.

The maximum payable tariff to the project developer was also lowered to ₹3 (~$0.041)/kWh from ₹3.25 (~$0.044)/kWh. The Uttar Pradesh Power Purchase Corporation Limited said it would enter into a power purchase agreement with the successful developer for 25 years at the revised tariff.

Developers had requested the agency to retain the tariff ₹3.25 (~$0.044)/kWh citing higher prices for modules, inverters, cable, structures, and copper. However, this request was rejected.

UPNEDA had floated the tender in early February. The projects are to be set up at Gujrai (50 MW), Makrechha & Banghauli (45 MW), Gurhah (75 MW), Parasan (75 MW), Tikar 1 & Tikar 2 (30 MW). The sites are located across the Jalaun and Kanpur Dehat districts in the state.

The interconnection delivery point must be at the grid substation from the generator’s substation or switchyard transmission line as per the scope of work of the agency implementing the solar park – the Lucknow Solar Power Development Corporation Limited.

The cells and modules used in the project must be sourced from the models and manufacturers included in the “Approved List of Models and Manufacturers.”

According to Mercom’s India Tender Tracker, UPNEDA has floated 4.3 GW of utility-scale project tenders as of December 2020.

The state has about 1.2 GW of solar projects in operation and about 1.6 GW under development, according to Mercom’s India Project Tracker.

Recently, Union Power Minister R.K. Singh said that more than 2.9 GW of solar power park projects with central financial assistance (CFA) of over ₹384 million (~$5.3 million) had been approved in Uttar Pradesh and the northeastern states.