The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from engineering, procurement, and construction contractors to develop a 160 MW large-scale solar wind hybrid project with an energy storage system in the Ramagiri district of Andhra Pradesh.

The final date for EoI submissions is February 5, 2018.

The scope of work includes the design, engineering, procurement, supply, construction, installation, testing, and commissioning of the 160 MW grid-connected hybrid power project with an energy storage system and the associated transmission facility.

The tender is global, and the successful bidder will have to provide five years of operation and maintenance (O&M) services after project commissioning.

The SECI has applied for $200 million in funding from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) for the cost of innovation and the hybrid project.

The SECI intends to use the funding to make payments on the goods, works, and services that will be procured for project development.

Project infrastructure will be provided by the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP), while the transmission evacuation facilities are to be provided by the Andhra Pradesh Transmission Company Limited (AP Transco).

The SECI will own the project and the power generated by it will be sold by the SECI to potential off-takers, including Andhra Pradesh Distribution Companies (DISCOMs), under long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

In India, it is rare for an implementing agency to seek to develop a hybrid project. Before this, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) had issued a notice inviting tender (NIT) to set up a 3.5 MW solar plus wind hybrid power project at NTPC Kudgi in Karnataka.

So far, all tenders involving energy storage systems have been cancelled for various reasons by SECI and NTPC. So, a large tender like this will naturally attract some skepticism from developers. According to India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) director, “the implementing agencies are still figuring out best practices for energy storage adoption.” SECI has to be transparent and timely in every step of the way to gain the confidence back from the industry.

In August 2016, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy MNRE released a draft National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy that called for installing hybrid capacity of wind and solar totaling 10 GW by 2022. The draft policy was also aimed at encouraging new technologies and methods involving the combined operation of wind and solar PV projects.