NHPC Limited has floated an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) tender for grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects (up to 1 GW capacity).

The tender includes a transmission line to evacuate power to Inter-State Transmission system (ISTS) sub-station, under ‘Tranche-III of Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) Scheme Phase-II,’ and an operations and maintenance (O&M) contract for ten years. The project must be completed within 15 months from the date of issue of notification of award.

The last date to submit bids is November 9, 2021. Bids will be opened on November 16, 2021. Bidders are expected to pay ₹40,000 (~$539) as bid document cost.

Bidder must either be a single entity or a joint venture or consortium formed to participate in this project’s tendering. A bidder is permitted to associate sub-contractor(s) components in which he does not have the requisite experience.

The minimum capacity a bidder can bid for is 100 MW in multiples of 25 MW capacity of the project at one location. The grid-connectivity with the ISTS substation should be 132 kV and above.

Solar PV cells and modules must be manufactured domestically as per specifications and testing requirements set by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for domestic content requirements (DCR).

The bidder must be a developer or designed, supplied, erected, or supervised erection and commissioned or supervised commissioning of solar PV-based grid-connected power projects with a cumulative installed capacity of 40 MW or higher. At least one of the projects must be 10 MW.

Bidders who have executed an industrial project either as a developer or as EPC contractor in power or steel, oil, and gas, petrochemical, fertilizer, cement, coal mining, including coal handling plant, with a minimum ₹2 billion (~$26.93 million) value in a single project in the last ten years. The project should be in operation for at least one year before the last date of bid submission.

The bidder should have executed either as a developer or as an EPC contractor at least one electrical sub-station of 33 kV or above, consisting of equipment such as 33 kV or above circuit breakers and power transformer, and should be in operation for at least one year before the last date of bid submission.

The bidder must hold proof of landholding, either acquired or leasehold for setting up renewable energy projects, for at least 50% of the applied capacity (requirement will be computed @ 5 acres/MW).

The bidder must also be a manufacturer or have a tie-up to supply DCR solar modules with domestic cells and module manufacturers for the applied capacity.

The bidder must have successful experience in O&M of a minimum of 10 MW solar power project for at least six months in the preceding five years, as on the last date of the month before the bid submission date.

The bidder’s net worth must be positive in three out of the last five years. In the previous three years, the average annual turnover should not be less than ₹1.27 billion (~$17.1 million) for 100 MW bid capacity.

If the bidder has quoted more than 100 MW capacity, the turnover will be calculated as follows – Turnover Criteria = N x ₹1.27 billion (~$17.1 million), rounded off to next higher whole number (N = bidder quoted bid capacity in MW divided by 100).

The working capital must be ₹700 million (~$9.4 million) for a 100 MW bid capacity. If the bidders have quoted capacity more than 100 MW, the working capital will be calculated as follows – Working Capital Criteria = N x ₹700 million (~$9.4 million), rounded off to next higher whole number (Where, N = bidder quoted bid capacity in MW divided by 100).

All JV partners must individually fulfill the net worth criteria specified under the financial criteria.

Last month, NHPC invited bids for the 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.

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