Solar energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a request for selection (RfS) to set up pilot projects of 500 MW/1000MWh standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) under a build, own, operate, and transfer (BOOT) model.

The projects must be commissioned within 18 months from signing the battery energy storage purchase agreement (BESPA).

Bidders must pay a non-refundable document fee of ₹29,500 (~$387.37) and ₹1.5 million (~$19,697.16) as a document processing fee for each project. Bidders must also furnish an earnest money deposit of ₹740,000 (~$9,717) MW/project.

The last day to submit the bids is June 10, 2022. The bids will be opened on June 15.

Successful bidders must furnish a performance bank guarantee (PBG) of ₹1.11 million (~$14,576)/MW/project before signing the BESPA and a success charge of ₹100,000 (~$1313)/MW. Successful bidders must also furnish a payment security deposit of ₹500,000 (~$6566)/MWh.

The net worth of the bidder must be equal to or greater than ₹7.4 million (~$97,166)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last date financial year ending March 31, 2021, or at least seven days before the bid submission deadline.

Bidders must have a minimum annual turnover of ₹2.9 million (~38,079)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last date of the financial year ending March 31, 2021, or at least seven days before the bid submission deadline.

They can also show an Internal resource generation capability in the form of Profit Before Depreciation Interest and Taxes (PBDIT) for a minimum amount of ₹580,000 (~$7616)/MW of the quoted capacity as of the last date financial year ending March 31, 2021, or at least seven days before the bid submission deadline.

Alternatively, bidders can also show an In-principle approval letter from banks committing a line of credit for a minimum amount of ₹725,000 (~$9520)/MW of the quoted capacity.

The total capacity of 500 MW/1,000 MWh must be set up at a single location, with two projects each of 500 MWh, i.e., 250 MW x 500 MWh capacity at the identified location. Bidders must submit a single bid, offering a contracted capacity of either one project or two projects of 250 MW/500 MWh each. The projects must be located near Fatehgarh-III substations connected to the interstate transmission system (ISTS) network in Rajasthan. They must be interconnected to the 400/220 kV Fatehgarh-III ISTS Substation.

The projects must be commissioned within 18 months from the signing of the BESPA. In case of delay in commissioning the project beyond the scheduled commissioning date, the PBG will be encashed on a per-day basis and proportionate to the balance capacity not commissioned. The maximum time for commissioning the project with applicable liquidated damages will be nine months from the scheduled commissioning date.

The Government of India had given the go-ahead for inviting an expression of interest (EoI) to install a 1 GWh BESS as a pilot project in October last year. The project is a joint initiative of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Ministry of Power.

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