MAHAGENCO Retenders 750 MW of Solar For Agricultural Feeders

MAHAGENCO has issued it’s tender for 750 MW solar PV projects to cater to the agricultural feeder load of various substations, for a second time.

The Maharashtra  State Power Generation Company (MAHAGENCO) has issued it’s tender for the development of 750 MW grid-integrated solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to cater to the agricultural (AG) feeder load of various substations across the state for a second time.

The utility had previously issued the tender in June 2018, however, lack of viable bids and response from prospective bidders forced the hand of the company to initially delay the closing and now to reissue the tender.

The scope of work includes the design, engineering, manufacture, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of the grid-connected solar PV projects. The project should be designed for the delivery of energy at 33/11 kV level substation of MSEDCL. SPD will provide the evacuation arrangement from the solar power plant to the nearest substation. O&M of this evacuation system for 25 years will be the responsibility of the SPD. MAHAGENCO will enter 25-year PPA with the successful bidder. MAHAGENCO will further sell the power to MSEDCL. The developer will have 395 days from the date of execution of PPA to commission the project.

In the latest tender, the generation company has added a greenshoe option through which any bidder can choose to develop another 250 MW of grid-connected solar PV projects at the lowest (L1) tariff discovered in the auction. The capacity has been tendered under the state’s Solar Agriculture Feeder program.

The last date for bid submission for the tender is July 11, 2019, and the techno-commercial bids will be opened on the same date, i.e. July 11, 2019.

The ceiling tariff for the tender has been set at Rs 3.23 per kWh. A decrease of Rs 0.02 per kWh from the last tender. A single bidder can bid for the entire capacity tendered. The minimum project size is 2 MW at a single location. MAHAGENCO has specified that the bidder needs to identify the land required for the project within the periphery of 3 kilometers from a substation.