GSECL Invites Bids For 110 MW Solar In Gujarat

The Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) has invited bids to set up an aggregate 110 MW of grid-connected solar power plants in Gujarat. The bid document says that the plant sizes can vary between 10 MW to 55 MW across three substations operated by Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO). GSECL of course is the key state generation firm in Gujarat, which distributes power though the four state discoms, DGVCL, MGVCL, PGVCL and UGVCL.

Following the usual trend of land availability being in place for such state agency projects , these projects also come with  power evacuation feasibility and land availability. The sites include Sanesh in Bhavnagar district for 55 MW , from 100 hectares of land, Pachchham in Ahmedabad, expected to host a 40 MW facility over 92 hectares and and Nikava in Jamnagar, for 15 MW from 25 hectares. The bid specifies commissioning periods for each place, at 15 months for Sanesh, 12 months for Pachchham and 10 months for Nikava.

The general scope of work includes design, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), operation, and maintenance of the grid-connected solar plant. The bidder shall evacuate power into the GETCO’s 66 kV substation through construction, erection, testing and commissioning of complete 66 KV bay along with bus bar extension in respective substations.

Key eligibility conditions include( and not limited to) similar work or have plant installation under progress—in India or outside—for a cumulative 66% of the total bid capacity, with a minimum 1 MW scale of plant. Out of this installed capacity, cumulative 90% should have been commissioned and in operation in India, with at least one solar PV power plant having 66% of the commissioned capacity.

The latest tender comes just two weeks after the winners announcement for the 700 MW tender for Dholera park (Phase IX) in Gujarat. That tender, managed by GUVNL (Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited) had been awarded to Vena Energy Renewables, Tata Power, ReNew Power, SJVN Limited and TEQ Green Power (a subsidiary of O2 Power).

While Gujarat has spared solar power projects when it comes to local issues, the state is acquiring a bit of a reputation as the place where wind ambitions die, with a slew of wind projects stuck in the state, many possibly never to come up at all ow, thanks to the delays in land and other related permissions.