The Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) is looking for an engineering procurement construction (EPC) firm to set up a canal top solar project in Ranchi. The state agency has issued a tender to set up 2 MW of grid-connected canal top solar project at Sikidiri Canal in Sikidiri village of the state.

The bid-submission deadline is February 11, 2019, and the estimated project cost is ₹164.4 million (~$2.3 million). The successful EPC contractor will have six months from the award of contract to commission the 2 MW grid-connected solar PV canal top project.

The scope of work includes the design and EPC of the grid-connected canal-top solar PV project. The successful EPC contractor will also be responsible for providing operation and maintenance services for 10 years for the grid-connected solar PV canal top project.

Implementing agencies are catching up on canal top solar installations. Recently, the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited invited an expression of interest to set up 16 MW of canal top solar PV projects at WYC Hydel Power Station at Bhudkalan in Yamuna Nagar.

Last year, the Irrigation and Water Resource Department in the state of Uttar Pradesh issued a tender to develop 100 MW of grid-connected canal top solar PV projects under public private partnership model.

The canal bank and canal top solar project program was launched in the financial year 2014-15. Under this program, solar projects have been commissioned in eight different states (50 MW of canal banks and 50 MW of canal tops), including Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Project capacities range from a minimum of 1 MW to a maximum of 10 MW.

In a bid to promote these installations, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is also providing a subsidy of ₹30 million (~$0.45 million)/MW of installed capacity for canal bank projects and a subsidy of ₹1.5 million (~$0.22 million)/MW of installed capacity for canal top projects.

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