The Military Engineer Services (MES) has invited bids for 3 MW of solar projects at two locations in the Leh region of Ladakh.

The MES is a state-owned enterprise providing infrastructure to the settlements of armed forces across the country. It intends to set up a 1.5 MW project along with battery energy storage systems (BESS) rated at 0.75 MW/2.5MWh each at Tangtse and Durbuk.

Interested bidders are expected to make an earnest money deposit (EMD) of ₹1.5 million (~$20,365). The last date for the submission of bids is November 5, 2020.

The projects are expected to cost ₹310 million ($4.2 million) and will be divided into two phases. The first phase is to be completed within 700 days and the second phase within 1,675 days of completion of the first phase.

MES said that enlisted contractors who are approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and un-enlisted contractors who meet the required criteria are eligible to place bids.

Prospective bidders must also have experience completing solar power projects for government departments or public sector undertakings (PSUs) over the last seven years. They must have completed at least one such project with a capacity that is at least 80% of the tendered project capacity, two such works of 50% the tendered capacity, or three such works of 40% the tendered capacity.

They must also have had a minimum average annual turnover amounting to at least 30% of the estimated project cost over the last three years. Contractors are not allowed to sub-let the work to a third party or other firms except to their direct descendants.

This tender joins the spate of tenders the MES has issued recently for the development of solar projects across the country.

In June, MES invited bids for the development of a 1 MW solar power project along with allied infrastructure at Jorhat in Assam.

More recently, Mercom reported that the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission allowed MES’ branches at Roorkee and Dehradun to set up a 2 MW grid-connected rooftop solar system each under net metering mechanism as a one-time exception.

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