5th Extension for SECI’s 4 MW Floating Solar Plus BESS Tender

Extension of the tender for 4 MW floating solar with 2 MW/ 1 MWh BESS in North Andaman. This is now the fifth such extension in SECI’s tender.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), in its latest notification, has extended the bid submission deadline for its tender for the selection of solar power developers for setting up of 4 MW grid-connected floating solar projects with 2 MW/ 1 MWh Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at the Kalpong Dam in North Andaman. This is now the fifth extension in SECI’s tender.

The last date for bid submission has been extended from April 13, 2020, to May 18, 2020. The techno-commercial bids will now be opened on May 21, 2020.

SECI had issued the Request for Selection (RfS) for the selection of solar power developers (SPDs) for setting up of 4 MW grid-connected floating solar PV power project with 2 MW/1MWh BESS at the Kalpong Dam in North Andaman in January.

As per the RfS, the Electricity Department, Andaman & Nicobar administration (A&NA) shall enter into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the successful Bidder selected by SECI based on this RfS for purchase of Floating Solar Power with BESS for a period of 25 years based on the terms, conditions and provisions of the RfS. The maximum levelised tariff payable to the Project Developer is fixed at INR 8/ kWh for 25 years. This shall be inclusive of all statutory taxes, duties, levies, cess applicable as on the last date of bid submission.

The Bidders will be free to avail of fiscal incentives like Accelerated Depreciation, Concessional Customs and Excise Duties, Tax Holidays, etc. as available for such projects. And all bidders will also be required to submit an Earnest Money Deposit of Rs 54 lakh along with their bids.

The Bidders selected by SECI based on this RfS shall submit Performance Guarantee for a value of Rs 1.08 Crores within 30 days of issuance of Letter of Award (LoA) or before signing of PPA, whichever is earlier.

The Scheduled Commissioning Date (SCD) for the commissioning of the full capacity of the Project shall be the date as on 18 months from the Effective Date of the PPA. The maximum time period allowed for commissioning of the full Project Capacity with applicable liquidated damages shall be limited to the date as on 6 months from the SCD or the extended SCD. In case of delay in commissioning of the Project beyond the SCD until the date as on 24 months from the Effective Date of the PPA, as part of the liquidated damages, the total PBG amount for the Project shall be encashed by Electricity Department, A&N Administration.

Recently, SECI had extended the deadline for the tender for the fourth time, extending the bid submission deadline from March 20, 2020, to April 13, 2020, which itself had been extended from March 13, 2020. Prior to that, the deadline was extended from February 28, 2020, to March 13, 2020. And before that, it had extended the deadline for the tender for the first time, extending the bid submission deadline from February 13, 2020, to February 28, 2020.