The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Joint Venture company of Public Sector Units of Ministry of Power and Government of India, tendered 300 MW of solar. The power generated will be utilized to power 20,000 agricultural pump sets in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The EESL has planned to set up 15 kW solar capacity for each pump set. The bid-submission deadline is June 29, 2017.

The successful bidders will design, manufacture, assemble and supply solar PV modules for the projects. The bidders will also provide performance warranty for contract period of 25 years from the commercial operation date.

Tender will be evaluated on per MW of Solar PV modules for installation of grid-connected solar mini grid pump sets. Techno-commercially suitable bidders having the lowest price will be considered as lowest bidder (L1). Each bidder must bid for a minimum 30 MW capacity. The EESL can award the total order quantity to single successful bidder or split it amongst the successful bidders.

The EESL had signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Government of Uttar Pradesh for the establishment of grid-connected solar PV-based mini grids for agricultural pump sets (10,000 for each state). The tender is in line with EESL’s plan of establishing energy efficient pump sets across the country for agricultural purposes.

The farmers will be given energy efficient pump sets of same rating as their existing pump set and solar modules to power the respective pump set. The solar generation capacity will be three times the capacity of the pump set.

Farmers will be encouraged to form a cooperative society and the pump sets will be installed in their agricultural lands. Solar PV-enabled agricultural pump sets can irrigate the farms during the day time and farmers would not have to depend upon the distribution companies (DISCOM) for electricity. The excess energy generated by the system can be exported to the DISCOM’s grid, enabling farmers to earn a substantial amount of revenue from the energy saved apart from reliable source of irrigation.