The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has extended the bid submission deadline of its Request for Selection (RfS) for 2.5 GW of interstate-connected solar projects under Tranche X (ISTS-X).

The projects are to be developed at the Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Park (UMREPP) in the Koppal district of Karnataka.

The revised deadlines are now June 29, 2020, for soft copy submission and July 1, 2020, for hard copy submissions. Previously, the last date for the submission of bids was May 29, 2020.

The tender was issued by SECI in April 2020.

Interested bidders are expected to make an earnest money deposit (EMD) of ₹400,000 (~$5,340)/MW. The developer must also submit a performance bank guarantee (PBG) for ₹800,000 (~$10,680)/MW within 70 days of the issuance of the letter of award (LoA) or before signing the power purchase agreement (PPA), whichever is earlier.

The scope of work for the 2.5 GW solar tender includes the acquisition of land, connectivity, and obtaining Long-Term Access (LTA) approvals by the solar power developer.

SECI had said that to be eligible to take part in the competitive bidding process, applicants must have a net worth greater than ₹8 million (~$106,806)/MW of the capacity undertaken at the end of the last financial year. They must also have had a minimum annual turnover of ₹4.14 million (~$55,272)/MW of the quoted capacity in the last financial year.

The applicants can submit a single bid for quantities between 50 MW and 2.5 GW. The total capacity that can be allocated to a single bidder is 2.5 GW. The solar projects are required to be designed for the interconnection at the power system stabilizer substation at a voltage level of at least 66 kV.

According to Mercom India Research, SECI has so far tendered 16.7 GW of ISTS connected solar projects under Tranche I to X.

Recently, SECI extended the bid submission deadlines for two of its tenders for 2 GW of ISIS-connected (Tranche IX) solar projects and 2 GW of ISTS-connected (Tranche IX) wind projects.

Previously, it also extended the bid submission deadline for its floating solar project tender with battery energy storage systems to be developed at Kalpong Dam, Diglipur in North Andaman. SECI extended the bid submission deadline to June 15, 2020, from May 18, 2020, set previously.