The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has issued yet another tender for floating solar projects. This floating solar tender, the third in a week’s time, calls to develop 20 MW grid-connected floating solar projects at the reservoir of NTPC Auraiya gas power plant, located in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The tender allows for the project’s solar cells and modules to be sourced from anywhere in the world.

The brief scope of work includes the supply, design, engineering, manufacturing, packing and forwarding, transportation, unloading storage, installation and commissioning of the project. A bidder will also have to provide operations and maintenance (O&M) for the first three years.

The last date for bid submission is January 24, 2018. The techno-commercial bid will open on January 25, 2018.

To be eligible to bid for the project, a bidder should have designed, supplied, installed and commissioned at least 16 MW of grid connected solar PV projects, out of which at least one project should be of 10 MW capacity or higher.

The average annual turnover of the bidder should not be less than ₹ 721 million (~$ 10.23 million) in the last three financial years.

Of late, the NTPC has come up with a series of floating solar tenders for its premises in various states.

Only recently, it issued a tender to develop 100 MW of grid-connected floating solar project at NTPC Ramagundam, located in Telangana.

It also issued a tender to develop a 25 MW floating solar project at NTPC Simhadri, located in Andhra Pradesh.

Then in October 2018, the NTPC had invited bids for the development of 70 MW of floating solar PV projects at the Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Project at Kayamkulam, Kerala.

Floating solar projects have become an attractive option for agencies in regions where land accessibility for large-scale solar projects poses a threat to the expansion of solar. In November 2018, Shapoorji Pallonji won the bid to develop 50 MW of floating solar project in Uttar Pradesh by quoting ₹3.29 (~$0.046)/kWh. SECI had fixed ₹3.32 (~$0.047)/kWh as the upper tariff ceiling for this tender.

According to a market report “Where Sun Meets Water” produced by the World Bank Group and  the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), the global potential of floating solar is estimated to be around 400 GW. As per the report, floating solar capacity has grown from 10 MW in 2014 to 1.1 GW in 2018.

Image credit: SPG Solar [CC BY-SA 3.0)]

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer