Cochin Port Trust (CoPT), a government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Shipping, has invited bids for both rooftop and floating solar power projects at its premises.

Initially, approximately 14 blocks of a residential building with flat-roof will be available for the project, and about 4 kilometers of surrounding water bodies are also available in Kochi, where the project has to be implemented.

The area available for the installation of the solar project is around 14,000 sq mts, considering both rooftops and water bodies, and it is expected to generate ~1.2 MW of power. The proposed solar power project is to be installed on both the rooftop of residential buildings and water bodies, as identified by the bidder. The document states that the bidders should mention the estimated power to be generated per annum by the proposed solar project, and they should also indicate the requirement of auxiliary power to run it.

A pre-bid meeting will be held on November 6, 2019, and the last date for uploading the amendments is November 15, 2019. The last date for bid submission is November 15, 2019.

The project will be executed on a BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) basis for 25 years.

The scope of work includes the site survey, identification for rooftop/water bodies, engineering, design, manufacturing, storage, civil work, testing, and commissioning of the projects. The scope of work would also include the operation and maintenance of the projects for 25 years under the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model.

The document further notes that the bidder should be an EPC contractor with the capability of introducing turnkey solutions for at least 1 MW of solar PV-based projects and should have executed at least one project on the date of opening of the Expression of Interest (EoI).

Of late, an increasing number of ports have also turned to solar as viable options for meeting their energy requirements.

For instance, previously, the Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL) issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) to set up a 5 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project at the port premises. The Kamarajar Port is in the state of Tamil Nadu and was previously known as Encore Port.

Recently, the Visakhapatnam Port announced that since May 2016, it has been running on 100% solar energy.

In August 2017, Bosch, a supplier of technology and services, commissioned a 4 MW solar PV project at the New Mangalore Port Trust.