The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has successfully commissioned a 50 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Theni and Dindigul districts of Tamil Nadu.

According to NHPC’s Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listing, the project was commissioned on March 23, 2018.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, the total cost for the development of the 50 MW grid-connected solar PV project stands at approximately ₹2.87 billion (~$44.5 million).

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the development of the project was given to Larsen & Toubro. The EPC contract was awarded through a reverse auction. Larsen & Toubro will also provide the operation and maintenance services for the project for a period of ten years.

As reported previously by Mercom, NHPC had issued the notice inviting tenders (NIT) to set up 50 MW solar project in the Theni and Dindigul districts in Tamil Nadu in October 2016. NHPC had also mandated that the bidder should be a single entity to participate in the bidding.

In its tender, NHPC had also specified that the successful bidder must complete the project within nine months from the date of issue of notification of award including commissioning period with a provision of incentive for commissioning before March 31, 2017 for availing viability gap funding (VGF).

Larsen & Toubro had won the contract to develop the 50 MW grid-connected solar project in Tamil Nadu in June 2017.

Tamil Nadu is already one of the top solar states in India with over 1.7 GW of installed solar capacity, according to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker. The state also has a project pipeline of 2.4 GW.

Recently, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) also revealed plans to tender 3 GW of renewable energy capacity soon. The capacity will consist of 1.5 GW of solar projects and 1.5 GW of wind power projects. The planned tender will help TNERC meet its RPO target of 5 percent for financial year 2017-18.