Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited invites bids for 33 MWp rooftop solar projects; tender closes on August 9
New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh has invited bids for Rooftop Solar Projects with 33 MW capacity under the Renewable Energy Services Company (RESCO) mode. The last date for submission is August 9, 2018.
Over 60 prospective bidders from across the country had attended the pre-bid meeting and got the opportunity to interact with Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (MPUVN) representatives last month. The pre-bid meeting in New Delhi was organized with support from the World Bank. The International Solar Alliance live webcast the proceedings of the pre-bid in New Delhi on their site to their 121-member countries. Discussions at the pre-bid meeting included pertinent topics, such as parameters on project groups/institutions, Request for Proposal (RFP) features, Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) clauses, compensation, subsidies and termination clauses.
Following the pre-bid meeting, four business meets were held in key industrial areas of MP, namely, Gwalior, Indore, Bhopal and Satna, in June and July, to familiarize the industry with the RESCO model and to help them understand and avail the benefits of making savings and reducing carbon footprint by installing solar photo voltaic system on their rooftop.
The vision of the Madhya Pradesh Government to implement 2200 MWp of rooftop solar projects is in line with the Government of India’s target to achieve 40 GW of solar rooftop installation by 2022. The program for 33 MWp rooftop projects under RESCO model is the step in that direction.
This tender has several first of its kind features to ensure bidders have a seamless experience while applying for it. Anticipating their challenge to visit 577 project sites spread all over the state, this RESCO tender provides extensive information on site specific technical assessment and electricity consumption history in a form of “Data room”. The information includes Coordinates of each site, indicative Solar PV array layout superimposed on the Google image, Estimated Solar PV Plant capacity based on available roof area, considering shadow, gap between rows & building code requirement for wind loading, etc.
This has been done to reduce the risk profile of the projects and enable more informed participation of the bidders. In addition, the beneficiary consumers have pre-cleared the terms of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Since such a market is already created, the project developer need not worry about demand creation and can focus on faster and efficient implementation of their projects.
Subsidy offered by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Government of Madhya Pradesh is up to 48% of the typical cost of rooftop solar system. Of which, almost half will be offered to the developer by MPUVNL as mobilisation advance against bank guarantee to facilitate easy cash flow. The remaining subsidy can be paid once the project development is completed. This implies that the developer would be facilitated with upfront recovery of almost half of its capital investment, despite it being RESCO mode of operation. The tender also details out how best to manage the risks between a beneficiary and a developer.
The full text on the tender is available on https://www.mpeproc.gov.in/and http://www.mprenewable.nic.in/. The deadline for the submission of bids has been fixed for 1800 hours (6PM) on August 9, 2018.
