Maharashtra Issues RfS for 1 GW Floating Solar Project

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has today issued a request for selection (RfS) for the purchase of power from 1,000 MW (100 MW X 10 clusters) grid-connected floating solar PV power project on Ujjani dam in Solapur district. The RfS was released with a set upper tariff limit at ₹3/kWh.

To be eligible for the bidding process of the project, each interested party must have a net worth more than ₹1.1 crore for every MW quoted in the capacity of the bids for the financial year ending on March 31, 2018. The selected bidders will enter into Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the MSEDCL for a period of 25 years from the scheduled commercial operation date of the project. Foreign companies are allowed to participate in the bidding process. The last date for the submission of RfS is January 28, 2019, and the technical bid will open on the following day i.e. January 29, 2019.

[related_post]

In April, MSEDCL had invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from prospective solar project developers to set up a 1 GW floating solar PV project on Ujjani Dam reservoir in Solapur district of Maharashtra. And less than a week ago, The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) approved the competitive bidding process for long-term procurement of 1 GW power from floating solar projects which will be established on the state’s Ujjani Dam. The bidding guidelines were proposed by the discom so it could procure power from these projects to meet its renewable purchase obligation (RPO).

Earlier this month, MSEDCL had issued a tender for 1,000 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic power projects. Under this the Phase-II of the project, MSEDCL will look to purchase the power from solar projects on a long-term basis. The last date for the bid submission is January 3, 2019, followed by the opening of technical bids.

There has been a recent incline in the number of floating solar projects and tenders coming up. This week, The Greater Visakhapatnam Smart City Corp (GVSCCL) issued a tender for the development of a floating solar plant, under the smart city mission, inviting bids for the development of a 15 MW solar plant on the Meghadri Gedda reservoir in Visakhapatnam district.

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in the last week has issued a tender for the development of 25 MW Floating Solar PV Project at NTPC Simhadri in Andhra Pradesh and another tender for the development of a 100MW Floating solar PV project at the NTPC Ramagundan in Telangana.