REC Power Development and Consultancy (RECPDCL) has issued a request for selection (RfS) for solar developers to set up 290 MW grid-connected solar power projects anywhere in India, with a greenshoe option of an additional 290 MW.

The projects will be developed on a Build-Own-Operate basis, under the Flexibility in Generation and Scheduling of Thermal/ Hydro Power Stations through bundling with the Renewable Energy and Storage Program notified by the Ministry of Power.

RECPDCL is acting as the bid coordinator on behalf of the Prayagraj Power Generation Company (PPGCL), the thermal power generating company in Uttar Pradesh. The selected bidder will have to enter into a power purchase agreement with PPGCL for 25 years.

The power purchased by PPGCL has been provisioned to replace thermal power through the existing power purchase agreements with various distribution companies.

The last date to submit the bids is December 12, 2023. Bids will be opened on December 15.

Bidders must submit a non-refundable document fee of ₹29,500 (~$353.87) and a bid processing fee of ₹1.5 million (~$17,993) plus 18% GST.

They must also submit an earnest money deposit of ₹900,000 (~$10,796) per MW of the quoted capacity. The selected bidder must submit a performance bank guarantee of ₹1.75 million (~$20,992) per MW of the allotted capacity seven days before signing the power purchase agreement.

They must also pay ₹100,000 (~$1,200)/MW/ project + 18% GST to RECPDCL towards administrative overheads as success charges.

The projects must be designed per the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and/or Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission regulations for delivery of power at the state periphery.

For projects that would be located outside of Uttar Pradesh, connected either to the Central Transmission Utility (CTU) or State Transmission Utility (STU) of their home states, the delivery point must be the Uttar Pradesh periphery point where the CTU network is connected to the intra-state transmission network of Uttar Pradesh.

For projects in Uttar Pradesh connected to the state’s transmission utility, the delivery point must be where the interconnection point of the solar project developer is connected to the low voltage bus bar of the Uttar Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation sub-station.

For projects in Uttar Pradesh but connected to the CTU, the delivery point must be the state’s periphery point where the CTU network is connected to the intra-state transmission network of Uttar Pradesh.

The solar project developer will bear all the charges and losses related to transmission setup.

The tender allows for the project to consist of any number of blocks. The minimum size of the block must be 5 MW or higher.

The developer must use only solar modules listed in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s updated Approved List of Models and Manufacturers. The project selection would be technology agnostic within the photovoltaic technology, and crystalline silicon, thin film, or concentrator photovoltaics can be installed with or without trackers.

The declared annual capacity utilization factor (CUF) of the project must, in no case, be less than 22%. The solar project developer must maintain the generation to achieve the annual CUF within +10% and -15% of the declared value till the end of the first ten years, subject to annual CUF remaining minimum of 19% and within +10% and -20% of the declared value of the annual CUF thereafter till the end of the PPA period.

The projects must be commissioned within 18 months from the effective date of the PPA.

Bidders from countries who share a land border with India will be eligible to bid in the tender, condition that they are registered with the competent authority.

Bidders should have commissioned solar power projects with at least 500 MW capacity, out of which a single project must have a minimum of 200 MW capacity in the last five years.

The net worth of the bidders should be equal to or greater than ₹10 million (~$119,951) per MW of the quoted capacity as of the last date of the previous financial year.

Bidders must demonstrate one of the following as proof of funds required to execute the projects:

• A minimum annual turnover of ₹5 million (~$59,976) / MW of the quoted capacity during the previous financial year or seven days before the bid submission deadline.
• An internal resource generation capability in the form of profit before depreciation, interest, and taxes for a minimum of ₹830,000 (~$9,956) /MW during the previous financial year or as of seven days before the bid submission deadline.
• An in-principal approval letter from the lending institutions or banks of the bidder, committing a line of credit for a minimum amount of ₹1.04 million (~$12,475) per MW towards meeting the working capital requirement of the quoted project capacity.

Earlier this month, RECPDCL issued a tender to select a transmission service provider to establish an inter-state transmission system to evacuate 5.5 GW of power from the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Zone Phase IV.

Subscribe to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker for timely updates on all solar tenders issued by various agencies in India.