The Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) has issued a request for selection (RfS) for setting up 10 MW of grid-connected solar power projects at Bagru in Jaipur district of Rajasthan.

The project will be installed on a build, own, operate (BOO) basis on the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model. The last date for the submission of bids is July 24, 2020. The project should be commissioned within eight months of the signing of the power purchase agreement.

Recently, Mercom had reported on the notice inviting tender (NIT) for the development of this project. The details of the tender were not available then.

The prospective bidders need to pay a sum of ₹4.5 million (~$59,623) as the earnest money deposit (EMD). The successful bidder will enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) for 25 years.

According to the tender document, the maximum tariff payable to the project developer is fixed at ₹3.20 (~$0.04)/kWh for 25 years.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had recently communicated that the upper ceiling tariffs would no longer be prescribed in future bids for solar and wind projects.

Clarifying this, a senior SECI official said, “In this tender, the power procurer is Jaipur Development Authority and SECI is only the implementing agency for the project. JDA had the clause to put a maximum tariff payable to the project developer, which has been set at ₹3.20 (~$0.04)/kWh. So, for this reason, this tender came up with the upper ceiling tariff.”

The projects will be allocated in packages of 10 MW, and a maximum of one package can be allotted under the RfS. The projects will be connected at 33 kV to the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (RVPNL) grid substation located at Bagru. The successful bidder will need to set up the cumulative project capacity at a single location or sub-divide into blocks. The project will be set up on 15-hectare land owned by JDA.

Regarding the financial eligibility criteria, the net worth of the bidder should be at least ₹9 million (~$119,246)/MW as on the last date of the previous financial year. The minimum annual turnover must be ₹5.9 million (~$78,040)/ MW during the previous financial year.

The scope of work includes the design, engineering, procurement, supply, commissioning, and installation of the project. It also involves inspection, packaging, and operation and maintenance (O&M) of the project.

According to the tender document, the SPV modules used in the projects must qualify the testing standards prescribed by the government.

SECI has mentioned that crystalline silicon, thin-film modules, or concentrated photovoltaic, with or without trackers, can be installed.

The bidder must ensure that the cells and modules used in the project are sourced from the models and manufacturers included in the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers as published by the MNRE.

Due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the prevailing situation because of the subsequent lockdown, the MNRE decided to extend the deadlines for approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM) List 1 (solar PV modules) and ALMM List-II (solar PV cells) by six months from March 31, 2020, to September 30, 2020.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, Rajasthan has about 4.8 GW of large-scale solar projects in operation, and approximately 7.5 GW capacity is currently under the development pipeline.

 

Image credit: Thomas Lloyd Group / CC BY-SA

Anjana is a news editor at Mercom India. Before joining Mercom, she held roles of senior editor, district correspondent, and sub-editor for The Times of India, Biospectrum and The Sunday Guardian. Before that, she worked at the Deccan Herald and the Asianlite as chief sub-editor and news editor. She has also contributed to The Quint, Hindustan Times, The New Indian Express, Reader’s Digest (UK edition), IndiaSe (Singapore-based magazine) and Asiaville. Anjana holds a Master’s degree in Geography from North Bengal University, and a diploma in mass communication and journalism from Guru Ghasidas University, Bhopal.