The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has invited bids to empanel solar developers to set up 100 MW of grid-connected rooftop and ground-mounted projects.

Empanelled vendors also must furnish operation and maintenance (O&M) services for five years.

The project is divided into four parts:

• Part A: projects up to 10 kW
• Part B: projects above 10 kW and up to 50 kW
• Part C: projects above 50 kW and up to 100 kW
• Part D: projects above 100 kW

The last day to submit the bids is May 6, 2023. The bids will be opened on May 15.

Bidders must furnish an earnest money deposit of ₹100 (~$1.21)/ kW subject to a maximum of ₹10 million (~$121,194). Empanelled vendors must submit 10 % of the awarded contract value as a performance bank guarantee.

Any bidder who submits a quote for Part B, Part C, or Part D must also include a mandatory quote for Part A, which should not be less than 25% of their total quoted capacity for the other three parts combined.

The annual O&M charge for the first year should not be lower than 1.5% of the project cost, and for the second year should not be lower than the first year O&M cost with an escalation rate of 5.72%.

Projects with a capacity of 10 kW or more must be commissioned within six months, and those below 10 kW must be commissioned within three months.

Bidders should have installed and commissioned at least 1 MW of rooftop or ground-mounted solar projects in India. For quoting more than the minimum capacity, they should demonstrate that they have installed and commissioned at least 50% of quoted capacity six months before the bid opening date.

They should have an annual turnover of at least ₹15 million (~$181,743)/ MW for two financial years within the last five years. Their net worth should be at least ₹7.5 million (~$90,871)/ MW of quoted capacity.

The empanelled vendors must bear the distribution infrastructure cost from the solar generation facility to the interconnection point of equipment, data acquisition, and communication facility.

Energy generated under this contract will be accounted against KSEB’s renewable purchase obligation.

Last April, KSEB invited bids to appoint EPC contractors to develop 11 MW of ground-mounted, grid-connected solar power projects at various locations in Kerala.

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