The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has invited potential bidders for the procurement of 500 MW of wind power on a long-term basis for eight years.

The RfS states that there would be a competitive bidding process, followed by an e-reverse auction and that the potential power entities would be from intra-state wind power projects.

The RfS adds that a pre-bid meeting will be held on June 14, 2019, while the last date for submission of bids has been set for July 5, 2019.

The MSEDCL has set a ceiling tariff of ₹2.52 ($ 0.036)/kWh and bidders will be required to submit an earnest money deposit (EMD) of ₹0.05 million ($ 0.007 million)/MW.

The MSEDCL has stated that the tender has been floated to fulfill its non-solar renewable purchase obligation (RPO) and to meet its future power needs.

The RfS further states that the bidders need to be existing wind power project developers, including projects whose energy purchase agreements (EPAs) with the MSEDCL have already expired or are due for expiration on or before March 31, 2020. The bidder can either be a company, or a limited liability partnership, a consortium or any other wind power generator having an EPA with MSEDCL which has expired or going to expire in FY 2019-2020.

The MSEDCL would enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the selected bidder for eight years. The successful bidder would supply power to MSEDCL based on terms of the new PPA on or before April 1, 2020, after the expiry of their EPA.

The bidders would be free to avail fiscal incentives like tax holidays, accelerated depreciation, concessional customs and excise duties, and trading benefits from carbon credits as available for such projects.

Projects with a minimum of 0.50 MW capacity will be allowed to bid after a strict quality check. Only certified wind turbine models listed in the revised list of models and manufacturers (RLMM), will be allowed.

The successful bidder should have valid certificates of registration. The bidder is also expected to operate and maintain the facility as per the relevant technical standards set in the Electricity Act, Rules and Regulations 2003.

Previously, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) had asked the MSEDCL to procure wind energy from projects whose energy purchase agreements have expired, to fulfill its non-solar renewable purchase obligation. The MERC was going through submissions made for a petition filed by MSEDCL seeking its approval to procure power from wind projects whose EPAs have expired.

In April 2019, the Maharashtra DISCOM had sought the state’s commission’s approval to cancel a PPA it had signed with a wind developer due to lack of available funds.

Image credit: SECI