SJVN Prepares for Possible 250 MW solar Project in Bihar With Tender for Land

SJVN Limited, the public listed mini-ratna jointly owned by the Government of India and Himachal Pradesh state, has taken out a tender for leasing contiguous land holdings of 1250 acres to be considered for a solar power project. Typically, a land holding of that size will house close to 250 MW of solar projects.

The move follows a similar move by the PSU in Rajasthan too, where no further updates have been shared after the tender.

At an offered lease period of 28 years, the tender has some very specific conditions. The area of total land offered for purchase or lease in the state of Bihar shall not be less than 250 Acres as a single connected patch. A maximum of 05 Land Patches at different locations cumulating to a maximum of 1250 acres may be offered.

SJVN shall reserve the right to purchase/‘lease for 28 years’ the land as offered, lesser than the total land offered, subject to fulfilment of MQR and other Tender Conditions, in line with its own requirements and future business strategy and depending upon the PPA capacity won during the BREDA bidding. Bucket-Filling methodology shall be used for the purpose of Purchase/Lease of Land through this Tender .

Other conditions include the requirement to not be at an aerial distance of more than 20.00 Kms from the Bihar
State Power Transmission Company Limited (BSPTCL)/State Transmission Utility (STU) Grid Sub-Station (GSS), where Estimated Spare Capacity (ESC) of at least ‘(Total Offered Land in Acres/5)’ MW is/will be available as on December, 2021 i.e. if for example, total land area offered for either Lease or Purchase is 1250 Acre, then the nearest STU/BSPTCL GSS must have an ESC of atleast ‘1250/5’=250 MW. For the purpose of distance from STU/BSPTCL GSS, the point of offered land nearest to the offered GSS will be considered.

The minimum width of the land patch offered  at any place within the patch shall be 500 Metres and must have a front of minimum 500 m width with any metaled/bituminous Govt Road.

The land offered must not be in or within the prohibited range of any wildlife protected area or defence establishment and there should be no government restriction in setting up of Solar Power Project at the offered land.

The PSU route has become the favoured route for pushing solar in backward states thanks to their ability to execute, and mitigate risks for possible bidders on the payments side. Taking care of the land acquisition issue is also a major hurdle crossed, as far as potential bidders are concerned, increasing the chances of more competitive bids. SJVN already has a tie-up with IREDA for renewable projects in place.