West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) has invited bids to install and commission distributed grid-connected solar systems for agricultural consumers under Component C of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) program.

Under Component C of the KUSUM program, the government aims to solarize 1.5 million grid-connected agriculture pumps of up to 7.5 HP capacities by 2022.

The scope of work includes the design, survey, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of the distributed solar systems along with five years of comprehensive maintenance.

The last date to submit the bids online is February 13, 2021. The bids will be opened on February 15, 2021.

The project is estimated to cost ₹378 million (~$5.17 million). The successful bidder must submit 1% of the package’s estimated cost as the bid security deposit and 5% of the contract price as the performance security deposit within 15 days from the date of the letter of award (LoA).

The work is to be carried out on a turnkey basis. The estimated quantity of solar systems consists of seven packages, each with a capacity of 10 KWp distributed among the districts of Hooghly, Purba Burdwan, and Birbhum districts.  A total of 700 agricultural pumps will be solarized.

The project must be completed within nine months from the date of the issuance of the LoA.

To participate in the competitive bidding process, the bidder should have experience in supply, installation, and maintenance of grid-connected projects or off-grid solar systems or rooftop projects, or ground-mounted solar projects during the last five years. The projects should have been executed under any government organization, public sector undertakings, statutory bodies, and sub-vendors only with a value not less than 50% of the package cost.

The bidder must have a positive net worth in each of the last three financial years. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners should individually meet the criteria. The average annual turnover in any three of the last five financial years should not be less than 50% of the package cost. In case a bidder is quoting for more than one package, the qualification will be the sum of the requirements of all quoted packages.

The tender specifies that the solar modules to be employed must be indigenously manufactured and meet the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) domestic content criteria for capital subsidy. The solar modules manufacturer must have supplied solar modules of a capacity of more than 5 MW in other projects. The modules must be in operation for over one year before the date of bid submission.

The solar modules must consist of 60 or 72 solar cells, each with a dimension of 156 mm x 156 mm. The modules with 60 cell configuration must have a minimum capacity of 300 W, and modules with 72 cell configuration must have a minimum capacity of 325 W.

In December last year, Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited floated a similar tender for distributed grid-connected solar systems for agricultural consumers under component C of the KUSUM program in Rajasthan.

Earlier, MNRE ramped up the targets of the KUSUM program from 25.75 GW to 30.8 GW by 2022. The financial assistance was reduced to ₹340.35 billion (~$4.61 billion) from ₹344.22 billion (~$4.66 billion).

According to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker, tenders for the solarization of 16,960 grid-connected agriculture pumps have been floated by different state power distribution companies.

Image Credit: JREDA