The South Eastern Railways has issued a tender for the empanelment of developers to implement grid-connected rooftop solar projects of various capacities in West Bengal through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The projects are to be developed in two capacity ranges: i) more than 10 kW and up to 100 kW, and ii) more than 100 kW and up to 500 kW.

The scope of work includes the engineering, design, procurement, erection, installation, testing, and commissioning of rooftop solar systems. The selected project developer will also operate and maintain the systems for 25 years after commissioning.

The last date to submit the bids is March 20, 2023. Bids will be opened on the same day.

The projects will be developed on a design-build-finance-operate and transfer basis. The South Eastern Railways will sign a 25-year power purchase agreement with the selected project developer.

Bidders must submit a bid document fee of ₹34,810 (~$421.07) and an earnest money deposit of ₹1.07 million (~$12,943)/MW.

The successful bidders must submit a performance bank guarantee of ₹1.60 million (~$19,354)/MW within 30 days of signing the power purchase agreement.

Bidders must have installed a minimum of 200 kW aggregate capacity of grid-connected rooftop solar systems as a developer or an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor.

Alternatively, bidders must have experience installing and commissioning a minimum aggregate 1 MW capacity of any grid-connected systems as a developer or EPC contractor in any sector – residential, social, industrial, commercial, and government — before the bid submission deadline.

Bidders must have an average annual turnover of ₹15 million (~$181,451) and a positive net worth during the last three financial years.

The empanelment duration will be one year from the issue of the letter of award, which could be extended for another year based on performance.

The developers are required to install the projects within 240 days of signing the PPA.

The Railways will use the generated solar power through the net metering system.

The modules to be used in this project must be listed in the Approved List of Models & Manufacturers published by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Solar adoption by the Indian Railways has been on the rise in the last couple of years.

In November last year, the Western Railways of India announced it had saved ₹30 million (~$362,902) on energy bills during the financial year 2021-22 by installing 6.6 MW of solar power projects across 97 railway stations and 3.92 MW of solar power projects at 46 railway office buildings.

Earlier this month, the Danapur railway division of the East Central Railway invited bids for state-wise empanelment of agencies to implement 3.252 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

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