The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has again extended the deadline for the submission of bids for 4 MW of floating solar power projects with 2 MW of battery energy storage systems (BESS).

The projects are to be developed at Kalpong Dam, Diglipur in North Andaman. The new deadline has been set for May 18, 2020, and the techno-commercial bid opening will be carried out on May 21, 2020.

Earlier in April, SECI had extended the deadline to May 04, 2020. SECI had issued the request for selection (RFS) for these projects in January with the bid submission deadline for February 13, 2020.

The projects are to be developed on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, and the interested bidders will have to pay ₹5.4 million (~$76,244) as the earnest money deposit (EMD). The maximum tariff payable to the developer has been set at ₹8 (~$0.11)/kWh for 25 years. This is inclusive of all statutory taxes, duties, levies, and cess applicable currently.

The scope of work includes the design, engineering, manufacture, dispatch, transportation, and storage of all equipment and materials such as the adequate capacity of solar PV modules with suitable ratings. The solar modules must qualify for the latest edition of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) qualification test or an equivalent by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standards.

The project should achieve financial closure within a year from the effective date of the power purchase agreement (PPA). The timeline for the scheduled commissioning of the project is 18 months. In case of a delay in commissioning beyond 24 months, the total performance bank guarantee will be encashed by the agency.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, over 9 MW of floating solar projects are currently in operation, and 430 MW are under the development pipeline across India.

Recently, Mercom reported that SECI had invited bids for 15 MW of floating solar projects at Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in the state of Telangana. The projects will be implemented at two different sites – a 10 MW project at the STPP storage reservoir, and a 5 MW system at the Dorli site on the SCCL premises.

Earlier, the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEB) had given in-principle approval to install 50 MW of floating solar power projects at Kollam district under Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPP) program of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Image credit: SolarWriter / CC BY-SA