The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)  has extended the bid submission deadline for setting up 150 MW (50 MW x 3) of grid connected floating solar power projects at Rihand Dam (also known as Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar Reservoir), located in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh.

The bid submission deadline has been extended to September 28, 2018 from the earlier deadline of May 31. The techno-commercial bid will open on October 1, 2018.

As reported previously by Mercom in April 2018,  SECI had increased the capacity of this floating solar project tender in the state of Uttar Pradesh from 100 MW to 150 MW. The projects were tendered by SECI in March 2018.

SECI has fixed ₹3.50 (~$0.0533)/kWh as the upper tariff ceiling for this tender. The successful developers will enter 25-year PSAs with Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL). A single bidder can bid for a minimum 50 MW and a maximum 150 MW.

Talking to Mercom, a SECI official said, “We have made some amendments in the main tender document. The earlier RfS has been revised due to high tariffs. The developers quoted higher tariff as UPPCL did not have a good credit rating. Now, to address this, SECI will be the intermediary procurer and UPPCL will sign a Power Sale Agreement (PPA) with SECI.

In another notification issued by SECI, the second pre-bid meeting for setting up 10 GW ISTS connected solar project linked with 3GW (per annum) solar manufacturing plant under global competitive bidding (Phase-I) has been scheduled on September 6, 2018. The first pre-bid meeting took place on June 22, 2018.

Mercom had reported in May 2018 that SECI tendered 5 GW of manufacturing capacity to be set up across the country. The manufacturing capacity would be linked to ISTS-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects for an aggregate capacity of 10 GW. The bid-submission deadline was August 27, 2018.

However, recently, SECI announced that it has reduced the capacity of the manufacturing tender from 5GW to 3GW.

Lastly, SECI has also updated the list of state transmission utilities (STU) that are tentatively available for the connectivity to 750 MW grid connected solar power projects in Rajasthan (non-solar park).

Image credit: Ciel_et_Terre

This article has been updated with a quote from SECI official

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer