Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy (SWRE) has been awarded the letter of intent from Gujarat Industries Power Company (GIPCL) for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of a 600 MW solar power project at the Khavda Solar Park.

The project consists of two 300 MW blocks, involving design, engineering, supply, construction, erection, testing, commissioning, and a three-year operation and maintenance contract.

The total contract value amounts to approximately ₹11.3 billion (~$136.1 million), encompassing taxes and duties.

GIPCL had won the 600 MW capacity under the greenshoe option of GUVNL’s Phase XVII auction, for which the tender was floated in September last year. GIPCL had quoted ₹2.73 (~$0.033)/kWh, matching the L1 price quoted in the original capacity auction.

Following this, GIPCL issued a tender in May, and it was secured by Sterling and Wilson.

NHPC, SJVN Green Energy, and NTPC Renewable Energy had won the previous auction to supply power from the 600 MW grid-connected solar power projects (Phase XVII).

SWRE must commission the projects within 15 months from the date of issue of the letter of intent.

They must submit a performance bank guarantee equivalent to 10% of the EPC contract price and also an O&M bank guarantee equivalent to 5% of the EPC contract price.

GUVNL will enter into a PPA with GIPCL for 25 years from the scheduled commercial operation date of the project.

Amit Jain, Global CEO of Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Group, said, “With this, our total order booking in this fiscal jumps to over 1.6 GWp worth ~ ₹18 billion (~$216.64 million). We continue to have a robust pipeline with high contributions from PSUs and remain on track to achieve our domestic order inflow guidance.”

In July 2023, GUVNL issued a tender for the purchase of power from 600 MW of grid-connected solar power projects (Phase XXI) to be set up at the GIPCL solar park in Khavda, Gujarat, with a greenshoe option of an additional 600 MW.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, GUVNL has so far floated tenders for 12.3 GW of solar projects.