Maharashtra: NTPC Looks For Land To Build 600 MW Solar Project

NTPC Limited has now issued a tender seeking land to develop 600 MW of solar projects in the Dhule region of Maharashtra and the successful evacuation of the clean power from the region. The power behemoth has invited the bids from bidder with prior experience in execution for grid connected Solar PV Projects/Solar Parks or Wind Projects/Wind Parks or combination thereof. To develop this project, the bidder’s prior experience is important in executing 100MW or higher, out of which at least one project/ Park should be of 50 MW or higher capacity. The last date for bids submission is 4th November 2024.

The tender mandates the bidder to arrange for government/private Land (5Acres/MW) on freehold/leasehold basis near Dhule Pooling substation (ISTS), Maharashtra. The lease period shall be a minimum of 29 years 11 months. The bidder is expected to undertake the topography survey for land parcels and any cutting / Filling with compaction. Additionally, the bidder is expected to be financially sound with a minimum financial turnover of Rs. Rs 23.60 Crores for 50MW to 300MW capacity.

Background

Recently, land evacuation tenders have become increasingly prominent, especially in states like Madhya Pradesh ((MP) and Karnataka, among others. NTPC’s latest tender is an attempt to bridge this gap. The latest report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) also observed a similar trend.

The IEA report mentioned, “Our accelerated case sees global renewable capacity reaching almost 11,000 GW by 2030, laying out a pathway for meeting the tripling goal. In this case, China, Europe, India, and the United States collectively provide 80% of total installed capacity worldwide. The case sees China addressing grid integration challenges and companies installing distributed solar PV systems at a faster pace, while in Europe and the United States, governments reduce long permitting timelines and stimulate investment in new grid capacity and flexible assets to unlock additional deployment. In India, policies addressing challenges such as land procurement, grid connection wait times, and the weak financial health of power distribution companies deliver additional growth.”

Thus, it identified land as one of the key challenges, which these tender aims to address.