Govt Extends All Deadlines for ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ Plan on Request

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has extended the timelines of each activity of its request for proposal (RFP) for the development and implementation of India’s ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ (OSOWOG) plan.

The reason behind deadline extension is quoted by MNRE as “in view of the prevailing situation and lockdown in many parts of the country due to Covid-19 pandemics and requested by many consulting firms, it has been decided to extend the timeline of each activity of the RFP document.”

On May 27, 2020, the Ministry had invited proposals from eligible consulting firms for developing a long-term vision, implementation plan, road map and institutional framework for implementing ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ (OSOWOG), which is in line with the PM Modi’s vision for connecting global grids through solar energy.

As per the new guidelines, the revised timeline for the Pre-bid Meeting at MNRE on this RFP is scheduled on June 22, 2020, from its existing date of June 05, 2020.

Now, the deadline for submission of questions has been extended to June 29, 2020, from its existing deadline of June 15, 2020.

On response to vendors’ requests for clarification, the responses will be provided on a rolling basis with last response provided no later than July 13, 2020. However, its earlier scheduled date was June 29, 2020.

Most importantly, interested consultants can now submit their proposals online by July 22, 2020, till 11:59 p.m. IST, and hard copies can be submitted by July 24, 2020, till 17:59 p.m. IST. However, its earlier scheduled date for online submission was July 6, 2020, and hardcopy submission date was July 08, 2020.

However, the estimated time for evaluation of the proposals and their approval has remained the same as 4 weeks.

India’s motive behind OSOWOG initiative is to take another leap towards building a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources that are seamlessly shared for mutual benefits and global sustainability.

The OSOWOG initiative is planned across 3 phases:

• Phase I (Middle East-South Asia-South East Asia (MESASEA) interconnection): Indian Grid interconnection with the Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asian grids to share solar and other renewable energy resources for meeting electricity needs including peak demand.
• Phase II (Solar and other Renewable Energy resources-rich regions’ interconnection): MESASEA grid getting interconnected with the African power pools to share solar and other renewable energy power of the countries located in solar and renewable energy-rich areas.
• Phase III (Global interconnection): to achieve the One Sun One World One Grid vision.