The Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has invited bids to purchase power through a competitive bidding process from 500 MW of grid-connected wind power projects (Phase-III) with the greenshoe option for an additional capacity of up to 500 MW.

The last date to submit the bids is June 15, 2022. Bids will be opened the following day.

Bidders will have to submit an earnest money deposit of ₹1 million (~$12,990)/MW (inclusive of 18% GST).

The successful bidder will have to furnish a performance bank guarantee of ₹2 million (~$25,980)/MW (inclusive of 18% GST) at the time of signing the power purchase agreement (PPA).

The minimum capacity a bidder can bid has been set at 25 MW.

GUVNL will enter into PPAs with the successful bidders for 25 years from the scheduled commercial operation date of the project or the date of full commissioning of the project, whichever is earlier.

Only certified wind turbine models listed in the Revised List of Models and Manufacturers (RLMM) prepared by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will only be allowed.

Projects under construction, projects which are not yet commissioned, and projects already commissioned but do not have any long-term PPA with any agency and selling power on a short-term or merchant plant basis will be considered.

Up to 500 MW of additional capacity through the greenshoe option will be offered to the successful bidders, who are willing to execute PPAs with GUVNL at the lowest tariff (L1 rate) s to the extent of their respective quoted capacity or higher quantum to the extent of greenshoe capacity.

Bidders should ensure pre-bid original equipment manufacturer and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) tie-ups with not less than three manufacturers for the design, engineering, supply, procurement, construction, and operation and maintenance.

The bidder’s net worth should not be less than ₹12 million (~$155,880)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last day of the previous financial year. The net worth will be the cumulative net worth of the bidding company or consortium together with the networth of those affiliates of the bidder.

Any bidder from a country that shares a land border with India will be eligible to bid.

The project should be designed for interconnection with the state transmission utility or the central transmission utility through a dedicated transmission line to deliver energy at the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO) periphery.

The successful bidder will be responsible for getting the grid connectivity from GETCO.

The bidder will be responsible for acquiring the land required to set up the project.

The successful bidder should declare the annual capacity utilization factor (CUF) of the project at the time of signing of PPA, and the same will be allowed to be revised once within the first three years. The declared annual CUF should not be less than 22%. The successful bidder should maintain generation to achieve annual CUF within + 20% and -20% of the declared CUF during the PPA duration of 25 years.

If, for any year, it is found that the successful bidder has not been able to generate minimum energy corresponding to the value of annual CUF within the permissible lower limit of CUF declared by the successful bidder, such a shortfall in performance should make the successful bidder liable to pay the compensation at 50% of the tariff to GUVNL.

In 2020, the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission announced the tariff framework for wind power procurement by distribution licensees. The commission decided that the tariff for all wind projects in the state would be determined through competitive bidding, doing away with the practice of generic tariffs.

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