There has been a steady uptick in solar plus storage tenders in India lately. The Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL), a public-sector enterprise operating in the electronics, information technology, and renewable energy segment, is the latest government agency to issue a tender to set up 1.7 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with battery energy storage system (BESS) in Andaman and Nicobar islands.

This is an engineering procurement construction (EPC) tender, and the bid-submission deadline is May 4, 2019. A pre-bid meeting will be held on April 10, 2019. Bidders are required to pay bid security of ₹5 million (~$0.072 million).

The projects will be developed on a turnkey basis. The scope of work includes the design, engineering, procurement, supply, packing, forwarding, transportation, unloading, storage at the site, site development, construction, erection, installation of equipment, testing and commissioning along with the associated transmission system.

A 1 MW solar PV project with 0.5 MW/0.5 MWh (at the point of coupling) BESS will be set up in Havelock Island while another 0.7 MW solar PV project with 0.5 MW/0.5 MWh (at the point of coupling) BESS will be set up in Neil Island.

The successful bidder will need to provide ten years of operation and maintenance services. The selected contractor will also have to install and set up the communication infrastructure to provide telemetry data to the state load dispatch center (SLDC).

The bidder needs to also install and set up an ‘Energy Forecasting System’ to forecast the energy generation by the project at both of the locations on the island. The successful bidder will have to run the project for one year after commissioning for performance demonstration for the final acceptance. After that, the 10-year operation and maintenance contract will begin.

Solar, coupled with battery energy storage, is gaining traction in the country. For instance, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has recently issued a tender for setting up 14 MW of solar power projects with 42 MWh battery energy storage system (7MW/21MWh each) in Leh and Kargil division. Both Leh and Kargil will have a 7 MW solar project with battery storage of 21 MWh each.