Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) has invited bids to procure 450 MW of power from solar projects to be developed in Maharashtra.

The last date to submit the bids online is January 30, 2023. Bids will be opened on the same day.

MSEDCL has set a ceiling tariff of ₹3.20 (~$0.039)/kWh.

Bidders will have to deposit ₹10,000 (~$120.73)/MW + 18% GST as a processing fee.

They must also furnish ₹100,000 (~$1,207)/MW as an earnest money deposit.

The selected bidders would be required to deposit a performance bank guarantee of ₹500,000 (~$6,036)/MW 30 days before signing of the power purchase agreement (PPA).

MSEDCL will sign a PPA with the selected bidders for 25 years from the commercial operation date of the solar projects.

The solar power generator will be responsible for the design, finance, engineering, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance of the project as per the provisions of the PPAs.

The terms of the tender said that only commercially established and operational technologies can be used to minimize the risk and achieve timely commissioning.

The minimum individual capacity of the project will be 1 MW, while the maximum is set at 10 MW.

Further, the net worth of the bidders for the financial year should not be less than ₹5.5 million (~$66,400)/MW of the quoted capacity.

Also, the minimum annual turnover of bidders during the last financial year should be ₹2.5 million (~$30,182)/MW of the quoted capacity.

Further, the internal resource generation capability, in the form of profit before depreciation interest and taxes (PBDIT), must be at least ₹1 million (~$12,073)/MW of the quoted capacity.

Additionally, bidders should also have an in-principle sanction letter from the lending institutions, committing a line of credit for at least ₹1.25 million (~$15,091)/MW of the quoted capacity.

As per the tender documents, the project should be designed to deliver energy at the 11/22 kV level substation of MSEDCL.

The solar 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.

MSEDCL said that the responsibility of getting the grid connectivity with MSEDCL would entirely be on the successful bidder. The transmission of power up to the interconnection point and energy accounting infrastructure will be the responsibility of the successful bidder at his own cost.

Also, the declared capacity utilization factor (CUF) should not be less than 19% over a year. The solar power generator should maintain generation to achieve CUF in the range of ±10 % of their declared value during the PPA duration.

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

Earlier, MSEDCL had 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.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, MSEDCL has floated tenders for 21 GW solar projects.