SECI to Conduct Pre-Bid Meeting for 5 GW RTC Power Tender

SECI will soon be conducting the pre-bid meeting for its tender for 5 GW RTC power from renewable projects, complemented with power from thermal power projects.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has announced that it will be conducting the pre-bid meeting for its tender for the selection of RE power developers for the supply of 5000 MW (5 GW) RTC (Round-The-Clock) power from grid-connected renewable energy projects, complemented with power from coal-based thermal power projects in India (RTC-II).

The pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for September 2, 2020, and will be conducted online. Prospective bidders who submit interest for participating in the meeting will receive their invitations on September 1, 2020.

SECI had issued the RfS document for the tender earlier in March this year. The last date for bid submission is May 4, 2020, however, through the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple extensions the tender is still open.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 250 crore and all bidders must submit an Earnest Money Deposit of Rs 5 lakh per MW per project.

The NIT issued by SECI stated that the developments in the renewable energy sector and the necessity to address the issues of intermittency, limited hours of supply and low capacity utilisation of transmission infrastructure make the case for “reverse bundling”, wherein high-cost thermal power is allowed to be bundled with cheaper renewable energy and is provided round-the-clock to the Discom.

RE Power Developers (RPD) selected by SECI based on this RfS, shall set up RE Power Projects on Build Own Operate (BOO) basis in accordance with the provisions of this RfS document and standard Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). SECI shall enter into PPA with successful RPDs for a period of 25 years. A composite single tariff for renewable energy, complemented with thermal energy shall be quoted by the bidders.

Furthermore, under the RfS, the minimum bid capacity shall be 500 MW.

The RPD shall supply RE power complemented with thermal power, if required, on a “Round-the-Clock” basis, keeping at least 80 percent availability on an annual basis. The RPD is required to supply at least 51 percent of annual energy from RE sources, including ESS if any, for the purpose of this RfS and the balance may be drawn from existing coal-based thermal energy Projects. The RPD can combine Energy Storage Systems (ESS) for ensuring that it achieves the required minimum annual availability of 80 percent. However, a minimum of 51 percent of energy shall be despatched from renewable sources. This 51 percent shall also include despatch from the storage system, provided RE sources are used to store energy in the storage system.