Punjab State Power Corporation (PSPCL) has issued a request for selection (RfS) to procure power from 1 GW of solar projects with a minimum capacity of 5 MW located in Punjab through a long-term tariff-based competitive bidding process.

Successful bidders must set up the solar project and the transmission network up to the delivery point. The State Power Corporation will enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with successful bidders for 25 years from the scheduled commercial operation date of the project.

The last day to submit the bids is June 21, 2022. Bids will be opened on the same day. The reverse auction will be held on June 29, 2022.

The bidders must pay a non-refundable RfS document fee of ₹25,000 (~$326) and a tender processing fee of ₹300,000 (~$3,915). Bidders must also submit an earnest money deposit of ₹400,000 (~$5,220)/MW with the RfS.

Successful bidders must furnish a performance guarantee of ₹1.18 million (~$15,399)/MW after the letter of intent is issued and before signing the PPA.

The projects to be selected under this tender can be installed anywhere in Punjab. However, only commercially established and operational technologies can be used to minimize the technology risk and achieve the timely commissioning of the projects. Bidders must comply with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s list of models and module manufacturers under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) regulation.

Projects under construction, projects which are not yet commissioned, and projects already commissioned but do not have any long-term committed PPA with any agency and selling power on a short-term or merchant plant basis will be considered. However, these projects must not be accepted under any other central or state programs and should not have any obligations towards existing buyers.

Only PSPCL or Punjab State Transmission Corporation grid-connected intrastate projects would be eligible.

The projects can be set up anywhere in Punjab. The minimum bid capacity must be 5 MW. Bidders can offer projects at multiple locations subject to each project having a minimum capacity of 5 MW. However, the cumulative capacity offered must not exceed 1 GW.

The competitive tariff to be initially quoted by the bidders must be firm and should be less than ₹2.55 (~$0.033)/kWh. This will be followed by an e-reverse auction.

The net worth of the bidders as of the last date of the previous financial year ending FY 2021-22 must not be less than ₹10 million (~$130,498)/MW of quoted capacity. During the last audited financial year, bidders should have a minimum annual turnover of ₹5 million (~$65,249).

Bidders must have an internal resource generation capability in the form of profit before depreciation, interest, and taxes (PBDIT) for a minimum of ₹1 million (~$13,049)/MW of quoted capacity. They must have an in-principle sanction letter from the lending institutions committing a line of credit for ₹1.25 million (~$16,312)/MW of quoted capacity.

PSPCL has issued another request for selection (RfS) to procure power from 1 GW of inter-state transmission system connected solar projects in India through a long-term tariff-based competitive bidding process.

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