The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has notified an extension in the bid submission deadline for 20 MW (AC) floating solar PV power project with 60 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at the union territory of Lakshadweep.

The earlier bid submission deadline was set for June 3, 2019, which has now been extended to August 5, 2019. The bids will be opened on the same day, the notification has informed.

The scope of work for the project includes design, engineering, supply, construction, erection, testing, and commissioning of the 20 MW(AC) floating solar PV power plant with 60 MWh BESS. The notification also clarified that the scope of work would also include a 10-year operation and maintenance of the project at Lakshadweep.

Earlier, SECI had issued tender for a 20 MW of floating solar PV project with 60 MW BESS on a turnkey basis in the union territory of Lakshadweep, with the last date for submission of bids set for April 1, 2019.

The project is spread across eight islands, to be awarded to a single bidder only, Mercom had reported.

Lakshadweep Energy Development Agency (LEDA) had invited an expression of interest (EoI) from developers and contractors to develop 10 MW of floating solar projects in Lakshadweep.

Floating solar projects have become an attractive option for agencies in regions where land accessibility is scarce for large-scale solar projects.

A report by the world bank and the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) titled “Where Sun Meets Water,” the floating solar market segment has been pegged at 400 GW. The report has also informed that floating solar capacity has grown from 10 MW in 2014 to 1.1 GW in 2018.

India, which has many reservoirs, lakes, dams where floating solar PV could be deployed, is proving an attractive alternative for implementing agencies and developers, who are struggling to get land for solar projects.

The spurt in the number of tenders for floating solar PV projects in recent times can be seen from the SECI issuing a tender for utilization of water bodies in Tamil Nadu by developing 250 MW floating solar PV projects in March 2019.

Likewise, in March 2019 SECI had also issued a tender for setting up of 150 MW floating solar PV projects; 100 MW at Getalsud Dam, Jharkhand and 50 MW at Dhurwa Dam, Jharkhand.

Following the SECI initiative for floating solar PV projects, the National Thermal Power Corporation of India(NTPC) too, in January 2019 floated tenders  for a 15 MW grid-connected  floating solar PV project at its Koldam Hydro Electric Power Project in Himachal Pradesh, and another 20 MW grid-connected solar PV power project at its Anta gas power station in Rajasthan.