The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) has invited bids for 2 MW of rooftop solar projects on staff quarters and other buildings of DMRC under the renewable energy service company (RESCO) model.

Apart from the design, engineering, supply, storage, civil work, erection, installation, testing, and commissioning of the project, the successful bidder will have to take care of the projects’ operation and maintenance for 25 years.

The project has to be completed within 12 months from the date of the issuance of the allocation letter. The estimated cost of the work is ₹72 million (~$981,429).

The last date to submit the bids is February 23, 2021. The bids will be opened on February 24. The pre-bid meeting will be held on February 02.

The successful bidder will have to submit an amount of ₹2.16 million (~$29,442) as the performance security amount.

The ceiling tariff for the tender is ₹4 (~$0.054)/kWh. Bids with a levelized tariff over ₹4 (~$0.054)/kWh will be rejected.

The sites selected by DMRC for the projects are:

As per the tender document, each project’s size must be between 10 kW and 40 kW or more. Every rooftop unit must be separately connected to the grid and have separate energy meters.

To participate in the competitive bidding process, the bidder should have installed and commissioned a grid-connected solar power project of a minimum of 1 MW capacity in the last ten years. The bidder should also have commissioned a rooftop solar project with a minimum capacity of 250 kW in the last ten years.

The tender specified that the bidder’s average annual turnover should be at least ₹57.6 million (~$785,143) in any one of the last five financial years. In the case of a joint venture, the lead partner should have a minimum of 26% participation in the joint venture. Partners with less than 26% participation will not be considered for the evaluation. The bidder’s net worth during the last audited financial year should be greater than or equal to ₹14.4 million (~$196,286). In the case of a joint venture, the algebraic sum of all the members’ net worth will be considered the bidder’s net worth.

Over the past few years, metro corporations across India have been gradually shifting to clean energy and have come up with plans to reduce their carbon footprint by adopting renewable energy and other clean energy measures.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, DMRC has so far issued tenders for 5.2 MW of rooftop solar projects as of December 2020. DMRC has also used other renewable sources to meet its energy needs. Previously, Mercom reported that DMRC had started utilizing power from a 12 MW waste-to-energy project set up by the East Delhi Waste Processing Company in a first-of-its-kind initiative in Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh.

Some of the recent rooftop solar tenders by the Metro Rail Corporation across the country include the 5 MW tender invited by Maharashtra Metro Rail under the RESCO model and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s 4.43 MW tender for the Mumbai Metro Rail Project’s station site.