Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has issued a tender to set up 1,300 kW of solar projects in Jhansi and Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The total capacity comprises 800 kW at the BHEL Transformer Plant in Jhansi and 500 kW at the BHEL Heavy Equipment Repair Plant in Varanasi.

Bids must be submitted by February 6, 2025. Bids will be opened on the same day.

Bidders must furnish an earnest money deposit of ₹500,000 (~$5,446.89).

Selected bidders must sign a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with BHEL.

Selected bidders must submit a performance bank guarantee (PBG) of ₹3.38 million (~$36,821).  This consists of ₹20.8 million (~$22,659.06) for the Jhansi solar project, and ₹1.3 million (~$14,162) for the Varanasi solar project.

The scope of work entails the design, development, installation, construction, synchronization, and commissioning of the solar projects. It also involves providing operation and maintenance services for the PPA period.

Successful bidders must liaison with any third parties, and renewable energy and government agencies for the distribution or export of the generated energy to the grid. They must also liaison with such entities to comply with established laws.

Selected bidders must provide the manpower and spare equipment for the projects. They must also provide auxiliary electricity and water.

The scope of work also includes providing sufficient CCTV cameras to monitor personnel movement. These must be integrated with the existing CCTV camera network. Additionally, the scope entails the provision of protection and safety equipment against pests such as monkeys.

Selected bidders must undertake the projects’ civil works.

Only commercially established and operational technologies must be used for the projects to minimize the technology risk and to achieve timely commissioning.

The projects must use components complying with the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers.

The projects must be commissioned within six months. Commissioning delays of up to one month will attract a penalty of 20% unit-wise PBG encashment, on a pro-rata basis per day.  Delays of up to three months can result in the remaining 80% PBG enhancement, and delays beyond nine months will result in termination of the contract.

Bidders must have commissioned at least 500 kW of solar capacity in a single project or work order in the last seven years. These projects must have been commissioned at least one year before the bid submission deadline.

Bidders must have a minimum net worth of ₹13.36 million (~$145,584.48) as of the previous two financial years.

They must have an annual average turnover of ₹26.7 million (~$290,864) during the last three financial years. Alternatively, they can obtain a line of credit from their lending institutions or banks, committing a minimum of ₹16.7 million (~$181,926.13) to meet the projects’ working capital requirements.

In March last year, BHEL invited bids for the engineering, procurement, and construction of solar projects with a cumulative capacity of 1.2 GW at the Khavda solar park in Gujarat.

Subscribe to Mercom’s India Solar Tender Tracker to stay on top of the real-time tender activity.