The Central Electronics Limited (CEL) has invited bids for 44 MW of solar generating systems ranging from 250 kW to 10 MW at various substations located in the state of Maharashtra.

The scope of work will include the design, engineering, supply, construction, erection, testing, commissioning, and maintenance of the systems. As per the tender document, it will be the responsibility of the contractor to operate and maintain the projects to deliver the guaranteed output for ten years from the date of commissioning of the projects.

CEL will establish these solar PV based small projects with capacities of 0.25 MW to 10 MW on the open, unused lands in the premises of existing substations of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL). It will supply a minimum of 310 W of solar PV modules at the designated site store provided by the bidder.

The last date for the submission of bids is December 30, 2019, and a pre-bid meeting will take place on December 23, 2019. The prospective bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹1,000,000 (~$14,097) as the earnest money deposit (EMD).

As per the eligibility criteria, the bidder must have designed, supplied, tested, installed, and commissioned at least 4 MW of solar power projects directly or indirectly for any government department, NGO, NSE-BSE listed company, in the last three years. This should include one power project of at least 250 kW capacity. Moreover, the bidder must have a cumulative turnover of ₹190 million (~$2.68 million) in the last three financial years.

According to the tender document, the manufacturer (OEM) of the inverter must have a company registered in India and should have prior experience of supplying a minimum of 500 MW of inverters in the country and should have a supply experience of at least three years in India.

The project would be developed in two parts. Part I will consist of site surveys, submission of drawings for approval, minutes of the meet, and project design document. Part II will comprise the implementation of small solar power projects with an O&M period of 10 years.

Recently, CEL had announced a tender for the supply of one million multi-crystalline solar cells on a fixed price basis. According to the tender, the solar cells must be five bus bar cells with an efficiency of 19.4%. They must be about 200 microns in thickness and measure 157×157 mm in size. The CEL expects delivery in staggered lots as per its requirements up to March 31, 2020.

Earlier this year, the public sector enterprise had also tendered 11 MW of grid-connected solar projects to be developed at various locations across Maharashtra.

Then in June 2018, CEL tendered 100 MW of solar PV projects to be developed across Maharashtra.