The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has tendered 2,000 MW of inter-state transmission system (ISTS)-connected grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to be developed across the country.

The capacity tendered comprises eight projects of 250 MW each. The bid-submission deadline is March 21, 2018.

Click here to download the tender document

This is a global tender and the scope of work includes the design, supply, construction, procurement, installation, testing, commissioning of the project. The successful bidders will be responsible for developing the required transmission infrastructure.

The tender has been prepared in line with the Solar Bidding Guidelines which were issued by the Ministry of Power in August 2017.

A single bidder can bid for a minimum of 250 MW and a maximum of 500 MW capacity. The SECI has fixed ₹2.93 (~$0.046)/kWh as the upper tariff ceiling for this tender.

The projects are to be developed on a Build Own Operate (BOO) basis. The SECI will enter into a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the bidders of all the projects that will be developed. The projects will need to be commissioned within 15 months from the effective date of the PPA.

With this tender, the SECI has tendered a total of 3,225 MW in January 2018.

So far this month, SECI has tendered 200 MW of grid-connected solar PV projects to be developed at the Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka’s Tumkur district, under the Phase-II Batch-IV Tranche-XIV of the National Solar Mission (NSM). Recently, it also tendered 750 MW of grid-connected solar PV projects to be developed at the Kadapa Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh, under NSM’s Phase-II Batch-IV Tranche-XV.

Mercom recently reported that the SECI has also tendered 275 MW of grid-connected solar PV projects to be developed in the Uttar Pradesh Solar Park.

All the recent tenders are part of the government’s goal to successfully tender 3 GW of solar in the month of January 2018, and SECI has exceeded the set target.

After a period of lull, tendering activity has spiked in the country. In December 2017, over 2.5 GW of solar was tendered and in January 2018, SECI alone has tendered over 3 GW.

In an exclusive article, Mercom previously reported that the grid infrastructure in India needs to scale rapidly to keep up with solar and wind tenders.