The Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) has invited expressions of interest (EOI) for solar trees, solar street lighting systems, solar drinking water kiosks, electric rickshaws, and their charging infrastructure in Konark Notified Area Committee (NAC) of the state.

The agency sought 50 solar trees, 200 solar street lights, 40 solar-based water kiosks, 20 electric rickshaws, and two charging stations for the rickshaws.

The scope of work includes designing, engineering, installing, testing, and commissioning the products along with operation and maintenance services for them. The last date for the submission of EOI is August 29, 2020.

OREDA also specified eligibility criteria for each product category. Applicants for the solar trees and street lights must have previously commissioned at least 50 solar trees of various capacities. Meanwhile, applicants for the water kiosks must have supplied and maintained at least 25 such kiosks in the country over the last year.

Bidders interested in supplying the e-rickshaws and their charging infrastructure must have previous experience setting up at least two charging stations for electric vehicles in the country over the last year.

The agency invited the expressions of interest under the “Solarization of Konark” program, a part of the High Visibility Solar Applications Program (HVSAP) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Background:

Back in May, Mercom reported the launch of the central government’s program for the solarization of Odisha’s Konark Sun Temple and the surrounding Konark town. Under this program, the government plans to set up a 10 MW grid-connected solar project and various solar off-grid applications such as solar trees, solar drinking water kiosks, and off-grid solar power projects with battery storage.

In a statement, the MNRE added that the government would provide 100% central financial assistance (CFA) and that OREDA would be the implementing agency for the project.

The MNRE has added that for the 10 MW grid-connected solar PV project, the viability gap funding (VGF) will be ₹10 million (~$133,004)/MW and the total CFA required is ₹100 million (~$1.33 million). The MNRE provided a breakdown of the proposed CFA allocated under the program for each category:

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, Odisha is one of the least developed states in terms of solar expansion. The state had only 416 MW of solar projects in operation, while 58 MW of solar projects were under development as of June 2020.

In March, the MNRE announced a grant of ₹650 million (~$8.63 million) towards a program for the solarization of the Sun Temple in Modhera, Gujarat, in what would be a pilot demonstration project for a town running entirely on solar energy.

 

Image credit: Subhrajyoti07 / CC BY-SA