Mahasamruddhi Renewable Energy (MREL), a special purpose vehicle of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), has invited bids to install and commission  9 MW of solar power projects in Washim (interchange 8) and Buldhana (interchange 11) districts of Maharashtra.

The projects will be developed along the 701-kilometer Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg.

The successful bidder will have to take care of the project’s operation and maintenance (O&M) for ten years.

The last date to submit the bids online is October 4, 2022. Bids will be opened on October 6.

Bidders will have to submit ₹470,000 (~$5,883) as an earnest money deposit.

The contract performance security for the O&M period will have to be furnished in two parts. The value of the contract security performance will be 5% of the absolute value of the O&M contract for each of the two parts; part one will be for the first five years and the second one for the last five years.

The project must be completed within nine months from the award.

The project capacity of 5 MW at interchange 8 is to be divided into two different grid interconnections, i.e., a 2 MW solar project connected to 33/11 kV Belmandal substation, which is at 6.5 km, and a 3 MW solar project connected to 33/11 Kakadshivni substation at 1.5 km from interchange 8.

The project capacity of 4 MW at interchange 11 is to be divided into two different grid interconnections, i.e., a 2 MW solar project connected at 33/11 kV MSEDCL Bhalegaon Panchala substation, which is at 6 km, and another 2 MW solar project connected to 33/11 kV MSEDCL Khandala substation at 4.5 km from interchange 11.

Bidders must have experience as an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors or developers designed, supplied, erected, and commissioned grid-connected solar power projects with a cumulative installed capacity of not less than 3 MW or higher. Out of which, at least one project should have been of the individual capacity of 1 MW or higher capacity. The reference project should have been operating for at least six months before the bid submission date.

Bidders should have executed at least one electrical substation of 11/22 kV or above voltage level, consisting of equipment such as 11/22 kV or above voltage level circuit breakers and power transformers, either as a developer or an EPC contractor. The project should have been operating for at least one year before the bid submission date.

Alternatively, they should have executed an overhead transmission line of 11 kV and above and bay before the bid submission date.

The average annual turnover of bidders should not be less than ₹100 million (~$1.25 million) during the last three financial years. Their net worth as of the last date of the preceding financial year should not be less than ₹50 million (~$625,875).

The modules to be used for the projects must be warranted for peak output wattage, which should not be less than 90% at the end of 10 years and 80% at the end of 25 years. They should be warranted for at least ten years for material defects and workmanship failures.

In January this year, MSRDC issued an expression of interest to develop 120 MW of solar projects on land available along the Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg.

Earlier, MREL had issued an EPC tender to develop a 5 MW(AC) ground-mounted solar project at Bhilkheda in Washim, Maharashtra.

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