Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) has invited bids for the procurement of 1,000 MW of solar power from projects to be developed in the state.

The last date to submit the bids is March 17, 2023. Bids will be opened on the same day.

MSEDCL has set a ceiling tariff of ₹3.30 (~$0.039)/kWh for the tender.

Bidders will have to submit ₹10,000 (~$120.9) + 18% GST as a bid processing fee. They must also submit ₹100,000 (~$1,209)/MW as an earnest money deposit.

The successful bidder will have to furnish an amount equivalent to ₹500,000 (~$6,046)/MW as a performance bank guarantee within 30 days from the date of the issuance of the letter of award and before the signing of the power purchase agreement (PPA).

MSEDCL will enter into a power PPA with the successful bidders for 25 years from the project’s commercial operation date.

The projects under construction, projects not yet commissioned, and projects already commissioned but do not have any long-term PPA with any agency and selling power on a short-term or merchant project basis will be eligible to bid under this tender.

The minimum individual project capacity to be developed is 2 MW, and the maximum 10 MW.

The project should be designed for the delivery of energy at the 11/22 kV level substation of MSEDCL.

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

The net worth of bidders for the last financial year should not be less than ₹5.5 million (~$66,505)/MW of the quoted capacity.

The minimum annual turnover of bidders should be ₹2.5 million (~$30,229)/MW of the quoted capacity during the last financial year.

Bidders should have an internal resource generation capability in the form of Profit Before Depreciation, Interest, and Taxes for a minimum of ₹1 million (~$12,091)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last day of the previous financial year.

Bidders should have an in-principle approval from lending institutions committing a Line of Credit for a minimum of ₹1.25 million (~$15,115)/MW of the quoted capacity toward meeting the working capital requirement of the project.

The responsibility of getting the grid connectivity with MSEDCL will entirely be of the successful bidder. The transmission of power up to the interconnection point and energy accounting infrastructure will also be the successful bidder’s responsibility.

The solar modules to be used for the projects should be from the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The declared capacity utilization factor (CUF) should, in no case, be less than 19% over a year. The successful bidder should maintain generation to achieve CUF in the range of ±10 % of the declared value during the PPA duration.

Last December, MSEDCL invited bids to procure 450 MW of power from solar projects to be developed in Maharashtra.

Earlier, MSEDCL had invited bids to procure 230 MW of solar power from projects to be developed in the state.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, MSEDCL has floated tenders for 25.21 GW solar projects.