The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has once again extended the bid submission deadline of its tender for 2.5 GW of interstate-connected solar projects under Tranche X (ISTS-X) in the state of Karnataka.

The revised deadlines are now August 14, 2020, for soft copy submission and August 18, 2020, for hard copy submissions. Previously, Mercom reported that SECI extended the deadlines to June 29, 2020, and July 1, 2020, respectively.

Background:

SECI originally floated the tender in April 2020. The projects are to be developed at the Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Park (UMREPP) in the Koppal district of Karnataka. The deadline for submission was initially May 29, 2020, as per the tender documents.

The scope of work required the solar power developer to be responsible for the acquisition of land, connectivity, and obtaining Long-Term Access (LTA) approvals.

Interested bidders were expected to make an earnest money deposit of ₹400,000 (~$5,361)/MW. The developer must also submit a performance bank guarantee for ₹800,000 (~$10,722)/MW within 70 days of the issuance of the letter of award or before signing the power purchase agreement, whichever is earlier.

According to the tender documents, to be eligible to take part in the competitive bidding process, applicants must have had a net worth of at least ₹8 million (~$107,220)/MW of the capacity undertaken and a minimum annual turnover of ₹4.14 million (~$55,487)/MW of the quoted capacity in the previous financial year.

Applicants were to submit single bid for quantities between 50 MW and 2.5 GW. The maximum capacity that can be allocated to a single bidder is 2.5 GW. The solar projects are to be designed for the interconnection at the power system stabilizer substation at a voltage level of at least 66 kV.

According to Mercom India Research, SECI has tendered 16.7 GW of ISTS connected solar projects under Tranche I to X so far.

Early July, SECI also extended the bid submission deadline for three of its recent solar tenders that have already seen several extensions. It extended deadlines for the 32 MW (AC) overburden dump-based solar power projects and 15 MW (AC) floating solar power projects to be developed at the Singareni Collieries Company Limited, located in Telangana.