The deadline for bid submissions is September 22, 2024, with bid opening scheduled for September 25.

Bidders are required to pay a document fee of Rs 25,000 and a processing fee of Rs 100,000, along with an earnest money deposit of Rs 740,000 per MW.

Successful bidders must also provide a performance bank guarantee of $1.85 million per MW/project. The project must be commissioned within 18 months of the Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA) effective date, with the agreement valid for 12 years from the commissioning date.

The BESS can be charged from any energy source, including conventional ones, and developers are not required to own the energy source. The project will be located near a substation on the intra-state network, with land provided by UPPTCL under a lease agreement.

The total capacity for the BESS is 1,200 MWh (300 MW x 4 hours). Bidders must submit a single bid for a project with a capacity between 50 MW and 300 MW, in increments of 50 MW (e.g., 50 MW, 100 MW, 150 MW, etc.). Bids not in these increments will be rejected.

UPPCL will off-take 100% of the contracted capacity under the BESPA. The developer must ensure a minimum system availability of 95% annually, with liquidated damages for any shortfall calculated at twice the capacity charges for the unavailable capacity.

Only commercially established and operational technologies will be considered to mitigate risk and ensure timely project completion. Bidders must meet the following financial criteria:

- A net worth of at least Rs 7.4 million per MW as of the last day of the previous financial year. - A minimum annual turnover of Rs 1.85 million per MW of quoted capacity in the last financial year. - Internal resource generation capability of at least Rs 370,000 per MW of quoted capacity as of the last day of the previous financial year. - Approval letter from lending institutions for a line of credit of at least Rs 462,000 per MW for the project?s working capital requirements.

In February, UPPCL also sought bids for 2 GW of grid-connected solar power projects.

(MERCOM)