Central Railways Tenders for 165 kW Rooftop Solar Plants

Central Railways has issued an RfP for the installation of rooftop solar PV systems worth 165 kW at two locations in Solapur.

Solapur Division-Electrical under the Central Railways has issued a Request for Proposal (RfP) for the installation of rooftop solar PV systems worth 165 kW at two locations in Solapur.

The first plant of 100 kW capacity is to be developed at the Railway Hospital building in Solapur and the second plant of 65 kW capacity will be developed at the office of the senior section engineer (Electrical/maintenance, Solapur).

The scope of work for the selected bidders will include the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of the rooftop solar systems. The successful bidders will sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for a period of 25 years from the commercial operation date. The advertised ceiling tariff for the PPA has been set at Rs 4.7 per kWh at minimum capacity utilisation factor (CUF).

The last date for bid submission is October 22, 2019. A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for September 26, 2019, to address the concerns raised by the prospective bidders. All bidders are also required to submit an Earnest Money Deposit of Rs 2.64 lakh along with their bids.

To be eligible, the bidders should over the past 3 financial years, have paid for, or received payments for successful commissioning of at least one grid-connected solar PV project for a minimum value of 35 percent of the contracted capacity. And, the total contract amount received or paid in Rupees during the last 3 financial years preceding the application due date should be a minimum of 150 percent of the estimated project cost.

For more information click here.

Recently, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced that the government has decided to put a deadline for 100 percent electrification of the railways. He says that the government plans to complete this feat in 10 years, by 2029-30.

The electrification of the trains also means that the trains will run on renewable energy. “We have decided to move towards 100 percent electrified railway. We will be the world’s first large railways…nearly 1,20,000 km of track, which will be 100 percent electrified. Imagine how much carbon we will reduce from the entire atmosphere,” Goyal said at a CII sustainability summit.