NHDC, a joint venture between NHPC and Madhya Pradesh State Government, is on the lookout for an engineering procurement construction (EPC) contractor to set up 25 MW of floating solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity.

The bid-submission deadline is September 10, 2019.

The NHPC wants to develop a 12 MW and a 13 MW (total 25 MW) floating solar PV project on the Omkareshwar reservoir in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. The project completion timeframe is 12 months from the date of issue of the contract to the successful bidder.

Interested bidders must submit an earnest money deposit of ₹15,000,000 (~$217,567). The scope of work includes the design, supply, design, engineering, manufacturing, packing and forwarding, transportation, unloading, storage, installation, and commissioning of the grid-connected floating solar PV projects. The successful bidder will also have to provide operation and maintenance services for five years after the project commissioning.

Tenders to set up floating solar PV projects are increasing in number in India. Recently, Maharashtra Water Resources Minister, Girish Mahajan, announced that the state would soon have four floating solar power projects at four of its dams.

In April 2019, the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) approved the opening and finalization of bids for the development of 100 MW of floating solar projects in the state.

In January 2019, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) invited bids for a 15 MW of grid-connected floating solar project at its Koldam hydroelectric power project (HEPP), located in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

The same month, the NTPC also invited bids for a 20 MW grid-connected floating solar PV project at its Anta gas power station in Rajasthan.

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: SolarWriter [CC BY-SA 3.0]