The Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL) has decided to issue the award of work for 45 MW of rooftop solar projects.

The RRECL has issued the counter-offer to the techno-commercially qualified bidders to match the lowest (L1) prices.  The technical bids were opened on December 19, 2019, and the financial bids were opened on January 21, 2020.

The district-wise lowest prices quoted by the bidders for the total project cost are inclusive of free comprehensive maintenance for five years along with all tax and duties.

For the Jaipur DISCOM, the price for slab A (above 1 kW-3 kW) has been set at ₹43 (~$0.603)/W, the price for slab B (above 3kW-10 kW) is ₹42.21 (~$0.592)/W, the price for the slab C (above 10 kW-50 kW) is ₹35 (~$0.491)/W. The price for the slab D (above 50 kW-500 kW) will be ₹32/W.

Similarly, for the Ajmer DISCOM, the price for slab A is ₹43.25 (~$0.606)/W, ₹42.60 (~$0.597)/W for slab B, it is ₹35 (~$0.491)/W for slab C, it will be ₹32 (~$0.449)/W for slab D.

For the Jodhpur DISCOM, the price for slab A has been set at ₹43.62 (~$0.612)/W, the price for slab B is ₹42.60 (~$0.597)/W, the price for the slab C is ₹35 (~$0.491)/W, and the price for slab D is set at ₹32 (~$0.449)/W.

As per the document, the startup category bidders are advised to give their consent for slab A and slab B only for the DISCOMs for which they have submitted their offer. It will be mandatory for startup category bidders to match the prices for both the slabs to get the award for work.

Bidders under the established enterprises category who have applied for more than one DISCOM may choose to give their consent to match the L1 prices for any or all DISCOMs for which they have submitted their offer. It will be mandatory for established category bidders to match the prices for all the slabs (A, B, C, and D).

In the case of more than one vendor, after matching the L1 rates under each category for respective DISCOMs, the allocation will be made to those bidders whose weighted sum will be in ascending order from the lowest quote.

RRECL had floated a tender in November 2019 for 45 MW of rooftop solar projects across the state. Out of the 45 MW, the expected capacity of this solar project under Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam (JVVNL) is 25 MW, 5 MW is under Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (AVVNL), and 15 MW is under the Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (JDVVNL). The estimated project cost for 25 MW is ₹1.35 billion (~$19 million), and it is ₹540 million (~$7.6 million) for 15 MW.

In the month of December last year, Rajasthan released its Solar Energy Policy, 2019, which aims to achieve a target of 30 GW of solar power by financial year 2024-25. Of this, utility or grid-scale solar parks will account for 24 GW, distributed generation is expected to account for 4 GW, the solar rooftop will total 1 GW, and solar pumps will make up the remaining 1 GW.