The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has floated a tender to develop 100 MW of floating solar-hydropower hybrid power projects at the Middle Vaitarna Dam in the state. Of the 100 MW, 80 MW will be floating solar projects, and 20 MW will be hydroelectric power projects.

The required generation of electricity per year is 67.98 million units (MU) from the hydro project and 140.58 MU from the floating solar system.

Interested bidders are expected to make an earnest money deposit (EMD) of ₹4.7 million (~$63,225) and a bank guarantee of ₹42.5 million (~$571,712). The last date for the submission of bids is December 10, 2020.

To be eligible to participate in the tender, bidders must have a net worth of at least ₹4.72 billion (~$63.5 million) as of March 31, 2020. For the floating solar projects, applicants must have completed at least three similar projects of at least 32 MW in size each. Alternatively, they must have completed two solar projects of at least 40 MW each or one solar project of 64 MW in size.

Similar projects here refer to the development and commissioning of solar projects in the country, including the construction, operation, and maintenance of the projects for at least five years.

For the hydropower projects, developers are expected to have executed similar work involving designing, building, and operating at least one 10 MW hydroelectric project in the state with a working head of at least 55 meters in the last 15 years. This facility should have been in operation for at least ten years at a 50% plant load factor. It should have also generated at least 67 MU per year in at least one of the last ten years.

Similar work, in this case, refers to the development and commissioning of a small hydropower project involving the engineering, construction, operation, and maintenance of the project for at least ten years from its date of commercial operation.

The commercial operation deadline has been set as 24 months from the date of financial closure for the hydro project and 18 months for the floating solar component.

The declared annual CUF should not be more than 30% for hydro and 19% for solar generation.

Last year, Maharashtra announced its plans to set up floating solar power projects at four of its dams.

The addition of floating solar projects on the top of water bodies, which already have hydropower stations, can annually generate around 7.6 TW of clean energy from the solar photovoltaic systems alone, according to a research report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

In India, floating solar has gained attention mainly due to the availability of a large number of dams, lakes, and reservoirs where such projects can be easily installed, given the increasing difficulty in acquiring land for the development of large-scale projects.

Image credit: isifloating