The Uttarakhand Irrigation Department (UID) has issued a Request for Proposal (RfP) for the installation of 40.84 MW of solar PV projects on the periphery of Tumaria and Haripura dams under BOOT (build, own, operate) model. These dams are located in Udhamsinghnagar district of Uttarakhand.

Under this model, the bidder will build, own, and operate the solar project for a period of 25 years and later transfer the entire project to the state’s irrigation department in working condition.

Out of the tendered 40.84 MW capacity, 27.34 MW is slated to be installed at Haripura Jalasay while the remaining 13.50 MW will be installed at Tumariya Jalasaya.

The land will be provided by the state free of cost to set up the solar project by the bidder with the lowest tariff. The state’s irrigation department will sign the Power Purchase Agreement with the successful bidder.

The last date for the submission of bids is February 15, 2019. The technical bids will open on February 18, 2019.

The project completion time is 12 months and the estimated cost of the projects stands at approximately ₹1.613 billion (~$22.69 million).

To be eligible to bid for this tender, a bidder should have developed at least one solar PV ground-mounted project of 20 MW capacity and it should currently be in operation at a single location. In order to participate, a bidder must also have experience of 5 years of operation and maintenance of the solar PV project.

The net worth of the bidder should be equal to or greater than ₹278.5 million (~$3.92 million) in the last three financial years.

Interested bidders are required to quote single fixed tariff for 25 years, which should be less than or equal to ₹4.29/ kWh (~$0.060/kWh).

Recently, the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) issued a draft order regarding the review of benchmark capital cost for solar PV, solar thermal, grid-interactive rooftop, and small solar PV projects to be applicable for the financial year 2019-20.

Earlier, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Uttarakhand’s Pantnagar town, had tendered a 5 MW grid-connected rooftop solar project.