The Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) has invited bids from domestic bidders for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors for a 1.5 MW grid-connected solar project in the state.

The project will be developed in the Palakkad district of Kerala. Besides the design, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of the contract, the contract would also include operation and maintenance (O&M) for five years from the date of commissioning. The project is to be developed on the land owned by KSEBL.

The last date for the submission of bids is September 09, 2020, and the pre-bid meeting would take place on August 14, 2020. The timeline for the completion of the project is six months. Interested bidders will have to pay an amount of ₹200,000 (~$2,669) as the earnest money deposit (EMD).

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, Kerala has about 90 MW of large-scale solar projects in operation, and approximately 119 MW capacity is currently under the development pipeline, as of June 2020.

Recently, the Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology (ANERT) also issued a tender for 6 MW of grid-connected ground-mounted solar systems in Palakkad. The projects are to be installed at Moongilmada village in Chittoor Taluk, Palakkad district, along with power evacuation facilities for the 110 kV substation at Kozhinjampara.

Earlier, the Kerala Government had launched a program called Soura to add 1 GW of solar projects to the existing capacity of KSEBL by 2022. The projects will be implemented under the Urja State Kerala Mission and will be executed to fulfill the state’s renewable purchase obligation. The program involves 500 MW rooftop solar, 200 MW of ground-mounted solar, 100 MW of floating solar, 150 MW of solar park, and 50 MW of canal top solar projects to be installed by 2022.