Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) has invited bids for purchasing power from 500 MW of grid-connected solar power projects (Phase XIX) to be set up anywhere in India with a greenshoe option of an additional 500 MW.

The last date to submit the bids online is March 13, 2023. Bids will be opened on March 16.

Bidders will have to deposit ₹300,000 (~$3,637) plus 18% GST as a processing fee. Also, bidders must furnish ₹400,000 (~$4,849)/MW as an earnest money deposit.

The successful bidder will have to furnish an amount equivalent to ₹800,000 (~$9,697)/MW of the quoted capacity as a performance bank guarantee after the issuance of the letter of intent and the before the signing of the power purchase agreement (PPA).

The successful bidders will have to sign PPAs with GUVNL within 30 days from the date of the issuance of the letter of intent.

The minimum project capacity will be 25 MW.

Only commercially established and operational technologies can be used to minimize the technology risk and achieve the projects’ timely commissioning.

Projects under construction and having no PPA with existing buyers will also be eligible to participate in the tender.

To participate in the bidding process, the net worth of bidders should not be less than ₹8 million (~$96,974)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last day of the previous financial year.

The successful bidder should set up solar power projects, including the electrical network, up to the delivery point at its own cost and in accordance with the provisions of the tender document.

The project should be designed to deliver energy at the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO) periphery. The responsibility of getting the grid connectivity with GETCO or the central transmission utility (CTU) will entirely be of the successful bidder.

Solar projects will also be allowed to be set up in the existing wind farms, which are already connected to the grid, subject to the availability of spare capacity for renewable energy integration at the corresponding GETCO or CTU substation.

GUVNL has stated that bidders should be familiar with the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) imposition and consider it while quoting tariffs in the present tender.

Also, solar modules to be used in the projects should be from the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Any bidder from a country that shares a land border with India will be eligible to bid in this tender only if the bidder is registered with the competent authority.

As per the tender documents, the declared annual capacity utilization factor (CUF) should, in no case, be less than 17%. The successful bidder should maintain generation to achieve annual CUF within + 10% and (-)15% of the declared value until the end of ten years from the commercial operation date and within +10% and (-)20% of the declared value of the annual CUF after that until the end of the PPA duration of 25 years.

Further, the solar modules to be used in grid-connected solar power projects must be warranted for peak output wattage, which should not be less than 90% at the end of ten years and 80% at the end of 25 years from the commissioning date of the project.

Recently, Sprng Energy, ib vogt, Hinduja Renewables, and Solarcraft Power India 9 (Blupine Energy) won GUVNL’s auction to supply power from 500 MW of grid-connected solar power projects (Tranche XVIII) with a greenshoe option of an additional 500 MW. Sprng Energy won 200 MW by quoting ₹2.51 (~$0.031)/kWh. ib vogt, Hinduja, and Blupine won 130 MW, 120 MW, and 50 MW, respectively, at ₹2.52 (~$0.031)/kWh.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, GUVNL has floated tenders for 11.5 GW of solar projects.