Indian state-owned utility tenders a further 1.2 GW of solar

From pv magazine India.

After tendering 70 MW of floating solar capacity in Kerala last month, Indian state owned electricity generator NTPC has invited bids for the development of 1.2 GW of grid connected solar PV projects in Maharashtra state.

The projects must be on land near NTPC’s generating switchyards and the power produced will be connected to the interstate transmission system through the NTPC switchyards, and will be purchased by NTPC.

The projects will be commissioned through a reverse auction.

Successful bidders must operate on a ‘build, own, operate’ (BOO) basis, meaning they must finance, design, construct, own and operate the solar facility.

There is no restriction on where the modules used in the projects originate and the tender is technology agnostic, so crystalline silicon, thin film or concentrated PV – and systems with or without trackers – will be considered.

Technical bids can be submitted until December 19, and will be opened the next day. The deadline for submission of financial bids and the date of the reverse auction, following the opening of financial bids, will be announced in due course.

Minimum bid capacity

Bids must be for projects of a minimum 50 MW in size, rising in 10 MW multiples, and bidders can offer multiple projects, provided each has a minimum 50 MW capacity and a single power tariff is applied.

The total capacity of solar projects that can be allocated to a company – including its parent, affiliate, ultimate parent or any group company – is 600 MW.

A 25-year PPA will be executed within 90 days of the date of issue of the letter of intent and separate PPAs will be executed between NTPC and developers for each project.

Projects up to 250 MW in scale must be commissioned within 21 months of the effective date of the PPA, and larger projects will be permitted a further three months. Missed deadlines will see the developer pay damage as specified in the PPA.

The maximum time period allowed for commissioning of full project capacity, with the backing of a performance bank guarantee, is limited to 180 days beyond the scheduled commissioning date, or extended scheduled commissioning date, as the case may be.