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					</table><p>Bhutan is set to get its first utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power project, with the Asian Development Bank (<a href="https://www.adb.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ADB</a>) approving financing of $18.26 million for its construction.</p>
<p>The project will have a capacity of 17.38 MW and will produce 25 GWh of power annually.</p>
<p>The project will help diversify Bhutan&#8217;s energy mix, which relies on hydropower making the sector vulnerable to variations in climate.</p>
<p>The Bhutan government will contribute $990,000 to the project. The financing from ADB also includes an $8.26 million concessional loan and an ADB-administered $10 million grant from the Asian Development Fund.</p>
<p>ADB Energy Specialist for South Asia Christoph Meindl explained, &#8220;This project will be Bhutan&#8217;s first major step toward diversifying power generation and increasing the resilience of its energy sector to future climate shocks. Increasing temperatures are projected to decrease glaciers and snow-covered areas, which will shift Bhutan&#8217;s hydrological system to a more rainfall-dominated pattern. This affects hydropower generation due to expected frequent droughts outside of the monsoon season and extreme high flows during the monsoon season.&#8221;</p>
<p>Technical assistance of $20,000 from ADB&#8217;s Technical Assistance Special Fund and $450,000 from the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund will also support the project&#8217;s construction.</p>
<p>ADB said that the technical assistance would bolster learning opportunities on climate-resilient energy systems for higher secondary students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.</p>
<p>The assistance will also encourage learning for the Department of Renewable Energy (DRE) under Bhutan&#8217;s Ministry of Economic Affairs. Women will constitute around 30%–40% of the beneficiaries of these learning programs. The DRE will conduct a gender equality and social inclusion mainstreaming self-assessment that will help the agency adopt an inclusive policy on a corporate level, like supporting gender-balanced staffing, proactive recruitment of persons with disabilities, and equality of pay.</p>
<p>Last year, ADB <a href="https://mercomindia.com/asian-development-bank-increases-climate-financing-target/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised</a> its climate financing targets for developing member nations to $100 billion from $80 billion until 2030.</p>
<p>In December 2020, the bank <a href="https://mercomindia.com/adb-approves-loan-hydropower-project-assam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> $231 million to develop the Lower Kopili Hydroelectric Power facility in Assam, India.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Gourav Mishra</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-06-at-6.37.25-PM-1-1.jpeg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Gourav,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gourav.</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-06-at-6.37.25-PM-1-1.jpeg" width="89" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gourav</a> is a staff reporter with Mercom India with over six years of experience in various roles with NewsX, The New Indian Express, IBTimes India, and U.S., Republic, and Analytics India Magazine. Gourav has a Master&#8217;s in journalism from Jain University, Bengaluru. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gourav Mishra</a></div>
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ADB Approves $18 Million for Bhutan’s First Utility-Scale Solar Power Project


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					</table><p>Bhutan’s <a href="https://www.moea.gov.bt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ministry of Economic Affairs</a>, on behalf of the Department of Renewable Energy, has invited bids for the design, procurement, construction, and completion of the 17.38 MW Sephu solar photovoltaic (PV) power project.</p>
<p>The Sephu project comprises a main electrical system, including solar PV modules, inverters, cables, transformers, protection equipment, module mounting structures, site access, internal roads, buildings and civil works, drainage systems, lighting protection system, emergency generator, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.</p>
<p>The estimated completion time for planning, engineering, procurement, construction, testing, and commissioning of the solar PV plant in Sephu is 540 days.</p>
<p>The last date scheduled for submission of the bids is September 19, 2022.</p>
<p>The Bhutan government has applied for a loan from the <a href="https://www.adb.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Asian Development Bank</a> toward the cost of the Renewable Energy for Climate Resilience Project, wherein part of the debt sought will be used to make payments for the Sephu solar project.</p>
<p>Bidders must have an average annual turnover of $21 million in the last five years. They must meet or exceed the cash flow requirement of $2.6 million.</p>
<p>Bidders must have experience in designing, engineering, testing, and commissioning ground-mounted, grid-connected solar PV power projects of at least 10 MW.</p>
<p>Bidders must also have experience handling and deploying ground-mounted PV projects with PV modules, foundations, mounting structures, grid-tied inverters, transformers, SCADA systems, and a monitoring system of at least 10 MW.</p>
<p>They must have participated in bids as a contractor, joint venture partner, or subcontractor in at least two contracts in the last five years, with the value of the bidder’s participation under each contract over $12.8 million.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Bhutan government <a href="https://mercomindia.com/daily-news-wrap-up-sbi-partners-finance-solar-projects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ratified</a> the Country Framework Agreement allowing EIB to commence operations in the Kingdom. The agreement was expected to help expand the existing EU economic support for the country, especially on climate action, climate resilience, and energy efficiency.</p>
<p>Last year, EIB and State Bank of India <a href="https://mercomindia.com/eib-sbi-launch-e100-million-sustainability-financing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> a new initiative of €100 million (~$99.26 million) for climate action and sustainability financing.</p>
<p>Subscribe to Mercom’s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Tender Tracker</a> to stay on top of tender activity in real time.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Gourav Mishra</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-06-at-6.37.25-PM-1-1.jpeg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Gourav,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gourav.</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-06-at-6.37.25-PM-1-1.jpeg" width="89" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gourav</a> is a staff reporter with Mercom India with over six years of experience in various roles with NewsX, The New Indian Express, IBTimes India, and U.S., Republic, and Analytics India Magazine. Gourav has a Master&#8217;s in journalism from Jain University, Bengaluru. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gourav Mishra</a></div>
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Bhutan Invites Bids to Develop 17.38 MW Sephu Solar Project

<p>India and Bhutan have formed their first-ever joint venture to develop a hydropower project.</p>
<p>The 600 MW project will be located on the Kholongchhu river in Trashiyangtse district of eastern Bhutan. The project will be developed by Kholongchhu Hydroelectric Limited, a joint venture formed between Druk Green Power Corporation of Bhutan and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited of India. The project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.khepbhutan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited</a> has also signed a concession agreement with the government of Bhutan for the development of the project. The project will consist of an underground powerhouse of four 150 MW turbines, which will be impounded with water from a concrete gravity dam with a height of 95 meters.</p>
<p>The hydropower sector is the primary area of cooperation between the two countries. So far, India has funded four hydropower projects in Bhutan, which include 36 MW Chukha hydropower project, 60 MW Kurichhu hydropower project, 1,020 MW Tala hydropower project, and 720 MW Mangdechu hydropower project totaling about 2.1 GW of hydroelectric power.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the International Hydropower Association recently <a href="https://mercomindia.com/india-overtakes-japan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">released</a> its 2020 Hydropower Status Report, which notes that India overtook Japan as the fifth largest hydropower generator in the world with an installed capacity of 50.07 GW. The IHA’s report also showed that globally, hydropower generated 4,306 TW of power in 2019, the highest contribution from any renewable energy source recorded in history. The report also noted that the largest hydro project commissioned in 2019 was the 720 MW Mangdechu Project in Bhutan, funded by the Indian government to power the country’s market and to export any surplus power to India.</p>
<p>In March 2019, India <a href="https://mercomindia.com/large-hydro-projects-renewable-sources/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">decided</a> to include large hydropower projects over 25 MW under the portfolio of renewable energy. This move by the government <a href="https://mercomindia.com/large-hydro-power-indias-renewable-mix-good/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">added</a> 43 GW of existing hydropower projects to the renewables basket.</p>
<p>According to Mercom India Research, as of March 31, 2020, large hydropower projects of 45.7 GW are operational in the country, <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-share-india-installed-power-capacity-mix/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">accounting</a> for 12.3% of the total installed power capacity in India.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Rakesh Ranjan</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Rakesh Ranjan,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a></p>
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<p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="77" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Rakesh Ranjan</strong></a> is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Prior to joining Mercom, he worked in many roles as a business correspondent, assistant editor, senior content writer, and sub-editor with bcfocus.com, CIOReview/Silicon India, Verbinden Communication, and Bangalore Bias. Rakesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" rel="noopener noreferrer">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a></p>
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India and Bhutan Form First-Ever Joint Venture for a 600 MW Hydro Project

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