The National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has extended the last date to submit bids for the selection of solar power developers to set up 1.2 GW of Interstate Transmission System (ISTS)-connected solar PV power projects in India.

As per the latest document issued by NTPC, the last date for the submission of bids is now May 28, 2020, and the date for the pre-bid conference is May 12, 2020. The last date for submission of bids was earlier set for March 19, 2020.

Interested bidders are expected to pay an amount of ₹400,000 (~$5273.64)/MW as the earnest money deposit (EMD).

In February 2020, NTPC had issued a detailed request for selection (RfS) for 1.2 GW of ISTS-connected solar projects across the country. The ceiling tariff for the tender was set at ₹2.78 (~$0.038)/kWh.

According to the documents issued earlier, the minimum capacity that a bidder can develop is 50 MW and in multiples of 10 MW from there, up to a maximum quotable capacity of 600 MW. Bidders can develop projects at multiple locations as long as each project is at least 50 MW. They are, however, allowed to only quote a single tariff for the entire capacity. The developer will have to achieve financial closure for the projects within 12 months from the effective date of PPA. The tender also stated that the capacity utilization factor (CUF) of the solar projects selected must not be less than 19%.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tracker, NTPC has 875 MW of large-scale solar projects in operation, and about 2.1 GW capacity is currently under development.

Recently, Tata Power Solar Systems Limited (Tata Power Solar), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power, received the Letter of Award (LoA) to build 300 MW of solar projects for NTPC at an inclusive rate of ₹17.3 billion (~$226 million). The capacity was tendered under the Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU)-II program.

Meanwhile, the NTPC recently announced that it had raised a syndicated loan worth $750 million (~₹53.5 billion) in Japanese Yen to fund capital expenditure for the installation of Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) systems. Flue gas desulphurization is a process of removing sulfur dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants, and sulfur oxide emissions from processes like the incineration of waste material.