The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has invited bids to develop an 8 MW grid connected solar PV project in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This project is part of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) proposal to establish 100 MW of solar in the region.

The project, which will be developed in Chidiyatapu, South Andaman, will be awarded through a reverse auction under “open” category (domestic content requirement not applicable) on a turnkey basis.

The successful bidder is expected to provide operation and maintenance services for the project over a five-year period, after successful completion of trial run. NTPC intends to finance the project through domestic commercial borrowing or external commercial borrowing.

This project is part of the NTPC plan to develop 10 GW of solar capacity under its Self-Owned and Developed Projects program. According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, 360 MW has been commissioned under this program, with another 510 MW under construction in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. An additional 1,779.5 MW has also been tendered by NTPC.

This is the second such tender announced by NTPC in the region. In June 2016, NTPC invited bids to develop 18 MW of grid-connected solar at Chidiyatapu. According to the LGBR report by Central Electricity Authority, there is a gap of 8 MW between peak demand and supply and a deficit of 60 million units of electricity in Andaman and Nicobar.

Image credit: By Kriti.kuhoo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons