The Ministry of Railways has floated tender to empanel qualified bidders for setting up 20 MW ground-mounted solar projects at Madhepura, Pandaul, and Rajnagar in Samastipur division of East Central Railway.

The last date to submit bids is December 23, 2024. Bids will be opened on the same day.

Bidders must pay performance security of ₹1.6 million (~$18,889.3)/MW.

They must also pay a bid document fee of ₹34,810 (~$410.96) plus GST and bid security of ₹1.07 million (~$12,632)/MW.

The scope of work covers the generation and supply of power from ground-mounted solar module systems. The bidder must be responsible for EPC, installation, testing, and commissioning of the solar module system, including operation and maintenance of the system for 25 years after the commissioning of projects.

The bidding process will be a single-stage two-packet centralized process without any subsidy/viability gap funding support from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy or Railways. The project will be carried out in a public-private partnership mode.

Bidders must have installed a minimum aggregate capacity of 200 kW of grid-connected rooftop solar systems in developer or engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode.

Alternatively, they must have installed and commissioned a minimum aggregate capacity of 1,000 kW of grid-connected systems in developer or EPC mode in any sector.

Bidders must have an average annual turnover of ₹15 million (~$177,087)/year in the last three financial years.

The successful bidder must sign a power purchase agreement for 25 years with the Railways.

The solar project can be >500 kW and up to 1 MW, or >1 MW and up to 5 MW.

The duration of the empanelment will be six months from the signing of the power purchase agreement. the validity may be extended for two more months.

The power/energy generated from the 20 MW solar project will be purchased by the Samastipur division of the Railway.

Bidders must set up the solar project in one location with an approximate area of 100,000 square meters.

In November 2024, the Ministry of Railways issued a tender for supplying, installing, testing, and commissioning a ground-mounted grid-connected 4 MW solar project at Thivim of Konkan Railway in Goa.

In October 2024, the North Eastern Railway invited bids under two tenders for a cumulative capacity of 2.21 MW on-grid rooftop solar systems (without battery backup) at the railway station, service building, and residential quarters of the SSE/E/West Section of the Izzatnagar division in Uttar Pradesh.