NTPC Invites Bids For 2GW ISTS Solar Project in Barmer

NTPC, JBIC Collaborate To Finance Renewable Energy Project In India

NTPC Renewable Energy has issued a tender inviting bids to develop 2 GW interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected solar power projects in Barmer, Rajasthan. The tender is regarding land and power evacuation packages to build the ISTS solar project. The last date to submit the bids is March 28 and bids will be opened on the same day, as per NTPC.

The tender specifies the scope of work for the bidders to conduct a topography survey of the land parcels and perform any necessary cutting or filling to achieve 95% compaction which will ensure an average slope of 10% for the land, which is required for installing tracker-based mounting structures.. Along with that, the bidders are also required to commission AlS pooling substations (400 kV or 220 kV) with appropriate tie transformers (400 kV/33 kV or 220 kV/33 kV) and necessary substation automation and protection systems.

According to the NTPC tender document, the bidders are required to have five acres of land per MW situated close to the Barmer ISTS substation with the lease extending for at least 29 years and 11 months. Government land proportion should not exceed 10% of the total land area secured for the project, stated the tender by NTPC.

So far as eligibility criteria are concerned, bidders are supposed to provide three years of cooperation and maintenance for the pooling substation and associated equipment, transmission lines, and terminal bays at the ISTS along with having completed projects involving grid-connected solar or wind energy, or a mix of both, with a total capacity of 100 MW or more, according to NTPC. Further, the bid copy also enunciates that the bidders should have experience arranging land for the project and obtaining technical feasibility approval for power evacuation through a state transmission utility or ISTS substation.

Financial requirements in the tender outlined by NTPC are that the average annual turnover for a total quoted capacity between 50 MW and 300 MW, the minimum average annual turnover must be Rs 132.5 million, and for capacities exceeding 300 MW, the required average annual turnover is Rs 442,000 (~$5,332)/MW of the total quoted capacity.