The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has extended the deadline for the submission of bids to supply 5 GW of round-the-clock (RTC) power from grid-connected renewable power projects, bundled with power from thermal projects.

The date for the submission of bids has been extended to June 04, 2020, from May 04, 2020.

SECI had issued the tender for the request for selection (RfS) on March 17, 2020. As per the tender documents, the minimum project capacity a developer can bid for is 500 MW, and the maximum is 5 GW. A single bidder can be allocated a maximum of 5 GW of projects.

According to the tender, land, connectivity, and long-term open access will be within the scope of work of the developer. Interested bidders will have to pay an earnest money deposit (EMD) of ₹500,000 (~$6,743) per megawatt undertaken in the form of a bank guarantee.

In the tender document, SECI added that renewable projects that have already been commissioned cannot be considered under this RfS. Still, projects under construction or those that are not commissioned yet will be taken into account.

The renewable power developer (RPD) is expected to supply renewable power complemented with power generated from thermal-based energy sources, if required, on a ‘round-the-clock’ basis, keeping at least 80% availability on an annual basis.

The developer will supply at least 51% of the annual energy from renewable sources, including energy storage systems. The balance can be drawn from existing thermal energy projects. For this tender, SECI did not specify an upper ceiling tariff. However, it said a single ‘composite tariff’ would apply to the project.

In January this year, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had come up with a draft plan to supply RTC power from renewable projects, which will be complemented with power from thermal projects. The MNRE had asked for feedback from various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Power, renewable energy associations, and state governments and their power distribution companies (DISCOMs), among others.

Earlier, SECI had invited an expression of interest from power generators involved in hydro, pumped storage, gas, battery storage, and thermal generating stations to supply power to SECI, which it would then blend with different renewable sources.