The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a request for selection (RfS) to set up 15 MW of grid-connected floating solar projects in the Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh.

Interested bidders are expected to pay an earnest money deposit of ₹13.5 million (~$180,781). The last date for the submission of bids is August 3, 2020.

SECI issued the tender on behalf of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). BBMB will enter into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the successful bidder for 25 years. The tender came with a ceiling tariff of ₹3.41 (~$0.046)/kWh set by the procurer.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had previously communicated that the upper ceiling tariffs would no longer be prescribed in future bids for solar and wind projects. However, in an earlier tender, SECI had clarified that a tariff cap was applicable if it only floated the tender on behalf of the procurer.

The scope of work of the 15 MW floating solar tender includes setting up the projects at the Nangal Pond, near Neilla Village in Bilaspur. The winning bidder will also have to set up single point connectivity at a voltage level of 66 kV at the interconnection point of the project’s substation with the loop-in-loop-out (LILO) connection of the BBMB.

The scheduled commissioning date (SCD) for commissioning of the full capacity of the project will be 18 months from the effective date of the PPA.

SECI also noted that the cells and modules used in the project should be sourced only from the models and manufacturers enlisted in the MNRE’s Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM). Read about the implications of the ALMM order on the domestic solar industry here.

To be eligible to take part in the competitive bidding process, applicants must have a net worth of at least ₹135 million (~$1.8 million) as of the end of the previous financial year. They must also have had an annual turnover of at least ₹94.5 million (~$1.27 million) in the last financial year.

Applicants were also expected to produce an in-principle sanction letter from a financial institution committing a line of credit for at least ₹23.6 million (~$316,032) towards meeting the capital requirements of the project. The tender document also said that bidders were allowed to submit a single bid for the entire 15 MW of floating solar projects.

Image credit: BayWa re