The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has invited bids for a 20 MW of grid-connected floating solar project at its Anta gas power station in Rajasthan.

Solar PV cells and modules for this project can 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. The successful bidder will also have to provide operations and maintenance (O&M) for the first three years.

The last date for bid submission is February 13, 2019. The techno-commercial bid will open on February 14, 2019.

To be eligible to bid for the project, a bidder should have designed, supplied, installed and commissioned grid-connected solar projects of cumulative installed capacity of 16 MW or higher, 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 ₹788 million (~$11.13 million) in the last three financial years.

Of late, the NTPC has issued a bouquet of solar tenders.

For instance, recently, it issued a tender to develop 100 MW of grid-connected floating solar project at NTPC Ramagundam, located in Telangana and another floating solar tender of 25 MW to be developed at NTPC Simhadri, located in Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier, the NTPC also 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: Swimsol