The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has retendered 250 MW of solar at Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka under the domestic content requirement (DCR) category. The entire capacity is divided into five blocks of 50 MW each.

The project is to be developed on a turnkey basis with the scope of work including: design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, packing and forwarding, transportation, unloading storage, installation, testing and commissioning of the project.

The successful bidder will have to provide operation & maintenance of the project along with all equipment for a period of five years from the date of commissioning.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, NTPC first had tendered the capacity on February 1, 2016. A NTPC official told Mercom that there were infrastructural issues in the Pavagada Solar Park leading to a reluctance among developers to participate. Now the infrastructure is complete and ready to go.

Mercom previously reported a new benchmark tariff of Rs.4.51 (~$0.066)/kWh for solar PV projects starting April 1, 2017, which was set by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC). This may have also played a part in the retendering.

Last week, NTPC has also retendered 750 MW of solar at the Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka under Open category.

Sampath has been part of the Mercom India research and news team since the company’s inception. He currently oversees all data and research relating to news published on the MercomIndia.com platform. Sampath received his Bachelor’s of Commerce Degree from Kuvempu University and Post Graduate Diploma in Management, from Indira Gandhi National Open University. More articles from Sampath Krishna.