The Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has floated two solar tenders for a total capacity of 950 MW. Both the tenders are for projects to be developed in the state’s solar parks. Following are the details:

750 MW Dholera Solar Park Project

The GUVNL wants to procure 750 MW (Phase VII) of solar power from projects which should be located in the 1,000 MW capacity Dholera Solar Park, located 100 kilometers south of Ahmedabad. The project is to be developed on a build, own, and operate basis (BOO). GUVNL will enter into power purchase agreements (PPA) with the selected developers for 25 years. The ceiling tariff for bids has been set at ₹2.75 (~$0.040)/kWh.

This 750 MW of solar projects will be developed over 15 plots with 50 MW capacity on each. Further, the projects are expected to be designed to be connected to the state transmission utility through a 33/220 kV internal pooling sub-station constructed by the developer.

Bidders have been asked to furnish an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of ₹1 million ($14,400)/MW in the form of a bank guarantee along with the bids. Once the developers are selected, they would need to provide a performance bank guarantee of ₹2.36 million (~$34,000)/MW at the time of signing of the PPA.

GUVNL has allowed developers nine months from the date of signing of the PPA to achieve the financial closure for the projects and 15 months for the commissioning.

Submission of bids for this tender closes on July 24, 2019.

Out of the 1,000 MW capacity at the Dholera Solar Park project, 250 MW was allocated to Tata Power (50 MW) and Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited (200 MW) in May 2019.

200 MW Raghanesda Solar Park Project

The Raghanesda Solar park is of 700 MW capacity out of which GUVNL has re-tendered 200 MW. The projects are to be developed over two plots with 100 MW capacity each. GUVNL will enter into power purchase agreements with the selected developers for 25 years. The ceiling tariff for the bids has been set at ₹2.65 (~$0.040)/kWh.

Bidders have to furnish an earnest money deposit of ₹1 million (~$14,400)/MW in the form of a bank guarantee along with the bids. Once the developers are selected, they would need to provide a performance bank guarantee of ₹2.36 million (~$34,000)/MW at the time of signing of the PPA.

In this tender too, the GUVNL has allowed developers nine months to achieve financial closure for the projects and 15 months for their commissioning. Submission of bids for this tender also closes on July 24, 2019.

Over the last year, GUVNL has tendered projects twice and canceled them subsequently.

In May 2019, after two scrapped auctions, 500 MW in GUVNL’s Raghanesda Solar Park was allocated to Engie (200 MW), and 100 MW each to Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL), Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited (GIPCL) and Tata Power.

A source at GUVNL told Mercom, “Although we received bids for 600 MW, we had only allocated 500 MW, and 200 MW remained unallocated due to certain tender criterion. Therefore, we are now retendering that capacity.”

The source did not share the name of the developer who forfeited the capacity.

A few days ago, the state approved 1 GW of solar PPAs which were tendered and auctioned by the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL).