GESCOM Empaneling Agencies for 10 MW Rooftop Solar Plants Under SGY Scheme

GESCOM is empaneling agencies for setting up rooftop solar plants worth 10 MW capacity with net-metering arrangements under the SGY scheme.

The Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (GESCOM) has issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the empanelment of agencies for setting up rooftop solar PV plants aggregating 10 MW capacity on the rooftops of residential buildings and Group Housing Societies (GHS)/Residential Welfare Associations (RWA) located in the jurisdiction of GESCOM in Karnataka with net-metering arrangements under the Soura Gruha Yojane (SGY) scheme.

The scope of work for the selected bidder(s) will include the design, supply, installation, and commissioning of the rooftop solar plants across sites located in city/ urban/ rural areas in the jurisdiction of GESCOM which covers the seven districts of Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagara. The developers will also be required to provide comprehensive operation and maintenance (O&M) services for the plants for a period of 5 years from the date of successful commissioning.

The last date for bid submission is April 12, 2021, and the technical bids will be opened on April 15, 2021. A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for April 5, 2021, to address the concerns raised by the prospective bidders.

It has been clarified that the selected bidders will use only indigenously manufactured solar panels (both cells and modules manufactured in India) for the project. GESCOM Rooftop Plants

Further, rooftop solar installations upto 3 kW capacity will get a subsidy of 40 percent. For rooftop solar installations above 3 kW and up to 10 kW, a subsidy of 40 percent will be granted for the first 3 kW and 20 percent for the remaining capacity. For GHS and RWAs, the central financial assistance (CFA) will be restricted to 20 percent for common facilities up to 500 kW.

To be eligible for participating in the bidding process, the lead bidder or its joint venture partner should be a system integrator or a module manufacturer, or both. The bidder should have executed projects with a minimum cumulative capacity of 80 percent, i.e., 400 kW, in the last 3 financial years. The bidder should have carried out the project for a Discom, state or central government, public sector undertaking, or private sector.

For MSMEs, the minimum experience required will be 40 percent of the tendered capacity, i.e., 200 kW in the last 2 fiscals.

Financially, the bidder’s average annual turnover should not be less than 100 percent of the amount put to tender during the last 3 fiscals i.e. Rs 2.35 crore. For MSMEs, the qualifying figure for turnover is Rs 58 lakh in the last 2 fiscals.

Earlier this month, we had reported that the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) has drafted the “Karnataka Renewable Energy Policy 2021-26” to strengthen the Renewable Energy markets in the state. Being one of the leading States in Renewable Energy (RE) sector in the country with a RE generation capacity of about 15,037 MW, the KREDL has drafted the policy with a foremost aim to facilitate 20 GW of RE projects in the state.