The Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) has invited bids for the empanelment of vendors for the installation of 4 MW of grid-connected residential rooftop solar projects across the state. The projects will be installed in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, and Balasore.

The bids are for the implementation of Phase –II of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)’s grid-connected residential rooftop solar program.

The last date for the submission of online bids is September 21, 2020, and the pre-bid meeting will take place on September 11, 2020.

Vendors will be empanelled separately for each of the following packages:

Interested bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹100,000 (~$1,368) as the bid security amount for all the four packages.

The bidders can take part in the bidding process under two categories:

• Category A: Any bidder who meets the qualifying criteria can take part in this category.
• Category B: The bidder should be a local micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) and registered under the MSME Development Act, 2006 in Odisha. The bidder can bid under Category B only if it meets the other requirements but does not meet the technical and financial qualification requirements.

A bidder can either participate under Category A or Category B. The Category A bidder can apply for all the four packages and be empaneled in one or more packages. The Category B bidder can apply for one or more of the packages; however, such bidders will be eligible to get an empanelment order for only one package.

To take part in the bidding process, the bidder must have the experience of commissioning rooftop solar projects for a minimum capacity of 200 kW in the last five years.

Regarding the financial criteria, the bidder should have a minimum average annual turnover of ₹10 million (~$136,847) in the last three financial years. The bidder should have a positive net worth in the previous financial year.

Odisha is one of the least developed states for solar development. According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, the state has merely 15 MW of rooftop solar installations as of Q2 2020.

Recently, OREDA invited bids for the installation of 1.47 MW of rooftop solar projects and 2,045 solar street lighting systems at 115 panchayat samiti offices in the state. The locations are spread across 30 districts of Odisha.

Earlier, the Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (GEDCOL) had floated a tender 16.65 MW of grid-connected solar rooftop projects across 17 cities. The cities included Hirakud, Rourkela, Baripada, Burla, Balasore, Sambalpur, Balangir, Bhadrak, Bhubaneshwar, Nabrangpur, Jeypore, Koraput, Sunabeda, Brahmapur, Chatrapur, Khurda, and Puri.