Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) has 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.

The last date to submit the bids online is November 9, 2022. Bids will be opened on the same day.

Bidders must submit a non-refundable processing fee of ₹300,000 (~$3,674) to participate in the bidding process. The bidders must also submit ₹472,000 (~$5,781)/MW as an earnest money deposit.

The successful bidder will have to furnish ₹1.29 million (~$15,800)/MW as a performance bank guarantee.

MSEDCL will enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the selected bidders for 25 years from the scheduled commercial operation date.

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

Projects eligible for this tender include projects under construction, projects that are not yet commissioned, and those already commissioned but do not have any long-term PPA with any agency and selling power on a short-term basis. Such projects should not have already been accepted under other central or state programs.

The minimum project capacity must be 25 MW at a single location with a minimum bid capacity of 50 MW for projects. The maximum bidding capacity for a single bidder is 500 MW, subject to satisfying the technical and financial criteria. Further, the project capacity should be in multiples of 25 MW beyond the minimum project capacity of 25 MW.

The net worth of bidders for the last financial year should not be less than ₹10 million (~$122,486)/MW. The minimum annual turnover of bidders during the last financial year should be at least ₹3.52 million (~$43,115)/MW of the quoted capacity.

Bidders should have an internal resource generation capability in the form of profit before depreciation, interest, and taxes for a minimum amount of ₹703,400 (~$8,615)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last day of the previous financial year.

They should also have approval from lending institutions for a minimum amount of ₹879,000 (~$10.766)/MW of the quoted capacity toward meeting the working capital requirement of the project.

The responsibility of getting the grid connectivity with the state transmission utility, i.e., the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (MSETCL), will be of the successful bidder.

The declared capacity utilization factor (CUF) should not be less than 19% over a year. The developers should maintain generation to achieve annual CUF within + 10% and -15% of the declared value until the end of 10 years from the commercial operation date, subject to the CUF remaining a minimum of 17% and within +10% and -20% of the CUF after that until the end of 25 years.

The solar modules to be used in the projects must be warranted for peak output wattage, which should not be less than 90% at the end of 10 years and 80% at the end of 25 years from the commercial operation date of the project.

MSEDCL has stated that the modules to be used for the project should be from the approved list of models and manufacturers issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Recently, 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. The state distribution company had floated the tender in July this year to procure power from 500 MW inter or intrastate grid-connected solar power projects through long-term contracts.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, MSEDCL has floated tenders for 19.2 GW of solar projects.