ISA Invites Bids For Development of Solar PV Projects in Member Countries

The International Solar Alliance (ISA), a treaty-based inter-governmental organisation which specialises in implementing programmes in the field of solar energy has invited bids for the development of solar PV projects including rooftop PV solar capacity in its member countries.

The organisation issued a call for bids after receiving a proposal from state-owned power generator NTPC Ltd for endorsing such projects. NTPC had made the proposal upon ISA’s earlier expression of interest request to its member countries for demand aggregation of 1 GW rooftop capacity. The state-owned power generator is looking for development of solar/renewable generation capacities in ISA member countries by way of investment as well as through consultancy services.

As per the proposal, NTPC will charge upfront consultancy service fees from the RESCO developers, at the time of the award. It has proposed fees of 10% for a cluster of 1 MW project and up to 1.5 MW, 9% for projects above 1.5 MW and up to 5 MW, 7.5% for projects above 5 MW and up to 50 MW, and 6% for project capacity more than 50 MW. The ISA will charge 1% of the project cost, uniformly across all sizes of the project, towards capacity building/promotion of solar in the country where the project is to be set up.

In its proposal, NTPC said “NTPC has made a quantum jump in the renewable energy generation program. From approx. 1800 MW operating renewable capacity today, it has set the target to achieve 30 GW solar PV generation capacity by 2030 and become a global power major with 130,000 MW capacity. NTPC global footprint also includes developing 1320 MW power project (ongoing) in Bangladesh and 500 MW power project in Sri Lanka.”

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Recently, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) approved the application filed by NTPC Ltd. to grant the PSU with an electricity trading license in the country. The central commission has proposed granting the power utility with a trading license, to help it in implementation of renewable energy projects, especially solar power projects in India.

NTPC had petitioned the CERC seeking a grant of Category I license for inter-state trading in electricity in all states and Union Territories. In its petition, the utility highlighted that it had been asked by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to implement 15 GW of solar PV projects, under the National Solar Mission.