The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has invited bids for 444 MW of decentralized solar projects of 500 kW to 2 MW capacity under component A of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) program in Maharashtra.

The estimated cost of the project is ₹15.54 billion (~$207.6 million).

The last date to submit the bids is November 23, 2021. The pre-bid meeting will take place on November 9.

Bidders will have to submit an earnest money deposit of ₹100,000 (~$1,336)/MW per project. The successful bidder must submit ₹500,000 (~$6,683)/MW as a performance bank guarantee within 30 days from issuing the letter of award.

Bidders could participate as an individual or group of farmers, cooperatives, panchayats, farmer producer organizations, or water user organizations setting up the project on their lands. If bidders cannot arrange the capital required to set up the projects, they may set up the project through a developer signing a land lease agreement.

Individual farmers, farmer groups, cooperatives, panchayats, farmer producer organizations, water user associations, and farmers setting up the project on their lands are not required to meet the financial eligibility requirement.

If a developer sets up the project on leased land, the net worth of the bidder should not be less than ₹10 million (~$133,565)/MW of the quoted capacity for the last financial year. The bidder’s average annual turnover should be ₹2.5 million (~$33,391)/MW of the quoted capacity during the previous financial year. The bidder’s internal resource generation capacity in the form of profit before depreciation, interest, and taxes must be at least ₹1 million (~$13,356)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last date of the previous financial year.

The bidder must have an approval letter from the lending institution committing a line of credit for a minimum of ₹1.25 million (~$16,695)/MW of the quoted capacity for meeting the working capital requirement.

The successful bidders have to commission projects within 12 months of the issuance of the letter of award. The solar power generator will have to declare the capacity utilization factor (CUF) while signing a power purchase agreement (PPA). The generator will be allowed to revise the CUF once within the first year of commissioning. However, the declared CUF must be less than 15% over a year.

The solar projects should be designed to deliver power at the 11/22 kV level of the substation of MSEDCL. The successful bidder should be responsible for electricity transmission up to the interconnection point and energy accounting infrastructure.

In August 2021, MSEDCL invited bids for 487 MW of decentralized solar projects of 500 kW to 2 MW capacity under Component A of the PM-KUSUM program in Maharashtra.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, MSEDCL has so far floated tenders for 13.04 GW of solar projects.