The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) has floated a tender for offshore geophysical and geotechnical investigations at different offshore wind sites in sub-zone-1, Gulf of Mannar, off the Tamil Nadu coast.

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) last month announced it would hold auctions for offshore wind sites along the Tamil Nadu coastline, with the NIWE overseeing these auctions. The first zone (B) is set to be tendered by February 1, 2023.

The last date for the submission of bids is November 28, 2023. Bids will be opened on the same day.

The scope of the work includes performing offshore geophysical and geotechnical investigations in the northern part of sub-zone 1 of the Gulf of Mannar, which involves conducting comprehensive geophysical surveys covering an area of approximately 108 sq. km, including bathymetry, side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler, and magnetometer surveys.

After the geophysical survey, the bidder must provide a ‘Borehole Location Map’ clearly indicating the positions of six boreholes designated for geotechnical survey purposes. NIWE will then select three boreholes from this set for in-depth geotechnical investigations.

Indian manufacturers, suppliers, authorized agents (if applicable), and Indian agents of foreign manufacturers (if applicable) are invited to submit both a “Technical Proposal” and a “Price Proposal.”

Bidders must submit an earnest money deposit (EMD) of ₹5 million (~$60,045). Micro and Small Enterprises are exempted from submitting an EMD as bid security.

Upon receiving the Letter of Award (LOA), the successful bidder must provide a Performance Security Deposit within fourteen days, which should amount to 5% of the order value, including taxes and duties.

NIWE will grant the contract to the successful bidder whose bid is substantially responsive, offers the lowest acceptable price, and meets the qualification criteria for satisfactory contract performance.

The Institute will issue an LOA upon selection, and the contractor must confirm their acceptance within seven days.

The successful bidder must sign and execute the contract within two weeks from the date of written notification from NIWE.

Any bidder working on a similar project must disclose their ongoing work, technical capabilities, infrastructure, and financial capacity to complete the work within the specified timeframe, providing all necessary details for a comprehensive evaluation to ensure timely project completion.

Furthermore, any vendor previously offered similar work by NIWE and failed to fulfill their contractual commitments is not eligible to participate in this tender.

NIWE retains the authority to either accept or decline any bid and has the discretion to cancel the bidding process and reject all bids at any point before the contract is awarded.

According to a Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) report, India will likely have a cumulative wind energy capacity of 63.6 GW, with a potential range spanning from 59.3 GW to 68.1 GW, by 2027, which is currently 41.9 GW.