Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has issued an invitation for bids from project developers to establish a 5 MW ground-mounted solar power project at its Ranipur facility in Haridwar on a build, own, operate, and maintain basis.
It was stated that the scope of work includes the development, construction, synchronisation, commissioning, operation, and maintenance of the solar project. Additionally, it involves the establishment of the evacuation network up to the BHEL substation.
It was further specified that the selected bidder would be required to enter into a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with BHEL.
The deadline for submitting the bids was revealed to be February 6, 2024, with the opening of bids scheduled for the same day.
It was outlined that bidders must furnish an earnest money deposit of Rs 3 million. The winning bidder is obligated to provide a performance bank guarantee (PBG) of Rs 12.85 million prior to signing the PPA or within 21 days of receiving the letter of intent, whichever occurs first.
The project was mandated to be commissioned within six months from the effective PPA date, with no provision for partial commissioning. A delay in commissioning up to one month would lead to the encashment of a partial PBG of Rs 3 million, calculated proportionally on a per-day basis. For delays extending beyond one month and up to three months, the remaining PBG of Rs 9.85 million would be encashed.
It was emphasised that the declared annual Capacity Utilisation Factor (CUF) must never fall below the CUF specified for each year in the tender by BHEL.
It was clarified that any surplus power generated by the project would be directly sold to BHEL, which reserved the right to sell or utilise the excess power at its discretion.
Bidders were required to have established ground-mounted solar power projects with a capacity of not less than 2.5 MW, and individual projects should have capacities of not less than 1 MW. Furthermore, bidders must possess experience in operating and maintaining solar projects with a capacity of 2.5 MW over the last seven financial years. These solar projects must have been commissioned and operational for a minimum of one year.
