Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) has invited bids to procure 230 MW of solar power from projects to be developed in the state.

The last date to submit the bids is December 16, 2022. Bids will be opened on the same day.

MSEDCL has set a ceiling tariff of ₹3.30 (~$0.041)/kWh for the tender.

Bidders will have to submit ₹10,000 (~$123.19)/MW plus 18% GST as a processing fee and ₹100,000 (~$1,241)/MW of the quoted capacity as an earnest money deposit.

The successful bidder must furnish an amount equivalent to ₹500,000 (~$6,205)/MW as a performance bank guarantee within 30 days from the issuance of the letter of award and before signing the power purchase agreement (PPA).

The project must be commissioned within 12 months from the letter of award.

MSEDCL intends to develop these projects of various capacities across 21 districts in Maharashtra at 87 locations.

MSEDCL will enter into PPAs with the selected bidders for 25 years from the commercial operation date of the solar power projects.

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

The net worth of bidders should not be less than ₹5.5 million (~$68,255)/MW of the quoted capacity.

Their minimum annual turnover should not be less than ₹2.5 million (~$31,025)/MW of the quoted capacity during the previous financial year.

Bidders should have internal resource generation capability in the form of profit before depreciation, interest, and taxes for a minimum of ₹1 million (~$12,410)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last dat of the previous financial year.

They should have an in-principle sanction letter from the lending institutions committing a ‘Line of Credit’ for a minimum of ₹1.25 million (~$15,512)/MW of the quoted capacity towards meeting the working capital requirement.

The project should be designed to deliver energy at the 11/22 kV level substation of MSEDCL. The responsibility of getting the grid connectivity with MSEDCL will be of the successful bidder.

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

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

Last month, MSEDCL invited bids to procure 500 MW of power on a long-term basis from 500 MW (Phase IX) of grid-connected intrastate solar power projects.

Earlier, NTPC Renewable Energy and Avaada Energy were declared winners in MSEDCL’s auction to procure power from 500 MW of grid-connected inter or intrastate solar projects (Phase-VIII) on a long-term basis.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, MSEDCL has floated tenders for 20 GW solar projects.