Government-owned Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited (NLCIL) has invited an operation and maintenance (O&M) tender for a 10 MW grid-interactive solar power project for a period of five years.

The projects are located at Neyveli in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. The 10 MW grid-interactive solar PV power project was designed for an annual power generation of 14.53 million units for a period of 25 years.

The scope of work includes the O&M of solar PV modules with cable connector and built-in fuses, module supporting structures, array junction boxes, power conditioning units, and all the necessary power equipment.

The scope of maintenance work will include the regular O&M of the solar PV power project, including the water supply pump and the submission of daily performance data of the projects.

The last date for the submission of bids is December 28, 2019. The prospective bidders are expected to deposit ₹917,000 (~$12,860) as the earnest money deposit (EMD).

According to the tender document, the bidder should have executed at least one solar project of at least 1 MW capacity during the last seven years.

During the five-year O&M period, the entire project is to be maintained in power generating mode.  If there’s a loss in the generation, the cost corresponding to the loss calculated at the rate of ₹3.04/ kWh (~$0.043) will be deducted from the annual operation and maintenance payments.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, NLCIL set up the 10 MW solar power project at the cost of ₹74.6 million (~$11.24 million) at Neyveli that was commissioned in September 2015. The project spreads across 54 acres of land and has 48,000 solar PV modules, each with a power generating capacity of 240 W.

In September 2019, Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited announced that out of the 709 MW of solar power projects awarded by TANGEDCO, 351 MW had been completed in the districts of Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Virudhunagar, and Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu.

Image credit: Avinash Kaushik [CC BY 2.0]