Mahanadi Coalfields, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), has invited bids for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of a 50 MW grid-connected solar power project with evacuation infrastructure in Odisha.

The scope of work includes acquisition and handover of land, design, engineering, supply, procurement, construction, engineering, testing, installation, and commissioning of a 50 MWac (75 MWdc) grid-connected solar project with the evacuation infrastructure in Odisha. The successful bidder will also have to take care of the maintenance activities of the project for five years.

The energy produced from the project will be utilized for captive consumption by Mahanadi Coalfields. The project’s estimated cost is ₹2.79 billion (~$37.58 million), and the project should be completed within ten months from the date of the letter of award.

The last date to submit the bids is September 01, 2021, and bids will be opened on September 02.

The successful bidder will have to furnish 5% of the contract amount as performance security within 21 days of the issuance of the letter of award. The performance security should be converted into a performance guarantee on successful completion of the work per the contract.

To participate in the bidding process, the bidder must submit the certificate of possessing adequate working capital of at least 20% of the estimated cost of the project, i.e., ₹559 million (~$7.53 million), including the line of credit and availability of other financial resources to meet the requirements of the project.

Any bidder from a country that shares a land border with India will be eligible to bid in this tender only if the bidder is registered with the competent authority.

As per the tender document, if the EPC work is not completed within the stipulated time, the contractor will have to pay ₹20,000 (~$269)/MW/day as a penalty for the first 30 days delay. The contractor will have to pay an amount of ₹30,000 (~$404)/MW/day for a delay of more than 30 days and up to 60 days on a per-day basis, and he will have to pay ₹45,000 (~$606)/MW/day for a delay of more than 60 days. The upper ceiling for the total liquidated damages will be 10% of the total contract value.

Last month, Mahanadi Coalfields invited bids for the operation and maintenance of a 2 MW solar project at its Burla headquarters in Sambalpur district of Odisha for two years. The company had also issued a tender to set up 1.21 MW of rooftop solar systems at its administrative buildings.

In April this year, Coal India announced that it was forming two wholly-owned subsidiaries for undertaking solar photovoltaic manufacturing and renewable energy projects. While CIL Solar PV Limited has been incorporated for manufacturing in the solar value chain (ingot-wafer-cell-module), CIL Navikarniya Urja Limited has been formed for renewable energy projects.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, Coal India has so far floated tenders for 200 MW of ground-mounted solar power projects.