Belagavi Smart City Limited (BSCL) has reissued the tender for the selection of a developer to install rooftop solar systems on a ‘discount over retail tariff’ basis on select government buildings in Belagavi, Karnataka.

The last date to submit the bids is February 04, 2021. The bids will be opened on February 06, while the pre-bid meeting will take place on January 19.

Apart from the design, finance, manufacturing, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning, the successful bidder will have to operate and maintain the systems for 25 years.

The tender was initially floated in September 2019.

When the tender was first issued, the winner had to execute the power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Hubli Electricity Supply Company (HESCOM) on a net metering basis. Now, the bidder will be selected on the ‘discount over retail tariff’ basis. Under this selection process, the bidder who quotes the highest discount over the retail tariff of electricity supplied to the government buildings is selected.

The indicative potential capacity across the seven government buildings under the current bidding process is given below:

The developer will be responsible for evacuating power from the rooftop solar project to the grid.

Interested bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹235,000 (~$3,216) as the earnest money deposit (EMD).

To participate in the competitive bidding process, the bidder should have designed, supplied, erected, and commissioned grid-connected solar power projects of cumulative installed capacity of 470 kW or above in the last three years, out of which 235 kW should be grid-connected rooftop solar projects. Each project should be at least 10 kW or above and should have been operational during the previous 12 months as of the bidding date.

The bidder’s net worth should be at least ₹8 million ($109,494) for the last financial year. The organization should have been a profit-making entity in the last three financial years.

The selected bidder should achieve financial closure within 45 days from the agreement’s signing.

There have been many tenders for cleaner energy projects floated by smart cities across India in the recent past. The National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program of the central government to make cities citizen-friendly and sustainable.

Last year in July, Karnataka’s Tumakuru Smart City Limited issued a request for proposal (RfS) seeking solar power developers to install 1.2 MW of rooftop solar systems on government buildings in the city.

In another tender, Karnataka’s Shivamaogga Smart City Limited reissued a tender for the construction of 25 MW of canal-top solar projects. The tender was reissued with modifications to garner more interest from developers. Also, in May last year, the Hubballi-Dharwad Smart City Limited invited bids for the development of nearly 340 kW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects on buildings owned by the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation.