NHPC Limited has invited bids for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of a 45 MW grid-connected solar power project along with an associated power evacuation system in the Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh. The successful bidder will also have to take care of maintenance activities of the project for five years.

The last date to submit the bids online is October 22, 2021, and bids will be opened on October 27. The pre-bid meeting will be held on September 22.

The project must be completed within 12 months from the issuance of the notification of award.

To participate in the bidding process, the bidder as an EPC contractor or a developer should have designed, installed, and commissioned grid-connected solar power projects of a cumulative capacity of 40 MW or higher, out of which one project should have been of 10 MW or higher. The reference project should have been in successful operation for at least six months before the bid opening date.

Alternatively, the bidder should have executed in the last ten years an industrial project either as a  developer or an EPC contractor in the area of power, steel, oil & gas, petrochemical, fertilizer, cement, coal mining, or any other process industry for a value of ₹2 billion (~$27.14 million) or more in a single project. The project should have been in successful operation for at least one year before the bid submission date.

Also, the bidder should have executed at least one electrical substation of 33 kV or above voltage level, consisting of equipment such as 33 kV or above voltage level circuit breakers and power transformer, either as a developer or an EPC contractor. The project should have been in successful operation for at least one year before the bid submission date.

Regarding the financial criteria, the bidder’s average annual turnover should not be less than ₹3.537 billion (~$48.02 million) during the last three financial years before the bid submission date. The net worth of the bidder as on the last day of the preceding financial year should not be less than 100% of the paid-up share capital.

Earlier, NHPC had invited bids for the EPC services for a 100 MW grid-connected solar project along with associated power evacuation infrastructure in the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, NHPC has so far floated 1.7 GW of EPC tenders for solar projects.