Amid the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has extended the bid submission deadline for its tender for 14 MW of solar projects with 42 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at Leh and Kargil. The project will be developed under the Prime Minister Development Package (PMDP).

The date for the submission of bids has now been extended from April 16, 2020, to June 1, 2020. In February 2020, Mercom reported that the last date for the submission of bids was March 16, 2020, and the pre-bid meeting was scheduled to be held on February 17, 2020.

In its notification, SECI said, “It’s evident that the global outbreak of the pandemic Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, has significantly hampered the functioning of all sectors including institutions, commercial establishments, offices and various manufacturing units are also at a standstill. India is phasing through this crucial time, having a complete lockdown of all the states and union territories (UTs) until April 14, 2020. In such a situation, the site visit for the subject RfS has already been postponed for an indefinite period.”

SECI had initially issued an NIT for the tender in March 2019.

The projects should be developed on a build-own-operate basis, and the selected project will be given a viability gap funding (VGF) in line with the terms and conditions of this RfS. The upper limit for the VGF to be quoted by a bidder has been kept at ₹130 million ($1.81 million) for 1 MW solar project with a battery storage of 3 MWh.

SECI will release 50% of the VGF after the supply of the equipment at the project site, and the remaining 50% will be released after the successful commissioning of the project.

The tariff to be paid to the successful solar power developer (SPD) by the buying entity has been set as ₹2.00 ($0.028)/kWh at the interconnection point, which will remain flat for the entire period of the PPA.

The projects should be developed on a build-own-operate basis, and the selected project will be given a viability gap funding (VGF) in line with the terms and conditions of this RfS. The upper limit for the VGF to be quoted by a bidder has been kept at ₹130 million ($1.81 million) for 1 MW solar project with a battery storage of 3 MWh. SECI will release 50% of the VGF after the supply of the equipment at the project site, and the remaining 50% will be released after the successful commissioning of the project.

The land for setting up the solar projects with battery storage will be facilitated and made available to the developer by the Ladakh Renewable Energy Development Agency (LREDA) and Kargil Renewable Energy Development Agency (KREDA) separately. The LREDA & KREDA will also provide the required land for the establishment of a substation.  The declared annual capacity utilization factor (CUF) should not be less than 17%.

Owing to the 21-day nationwide lockdown, the government has announced several changes and deviations in the existing policies, including the ones related to renewable energy. Track the latest developments and initiatives taken by the government to fight the economic repercussions of the pandemic in the renewable industry here.

Image credit: Energiaastatcon / CC BY-SA