National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) Limited has floated a tender for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of land development for 500 MW grid-connected solar projects anywhere across India. The selected bidder will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the solar project for three years after the trial run is completed. The scope of work includes project design, manufacturing, supply, packing, forwarding, transportation, unloading, installation, storage, and commissioning. The bids must be submitted on or before August 10 and will be opened later that day. On July 27, a meeting will be held prior to the bidding process. Bids can have a capacity ranging from 50 MW to 500 MW. The land assigned for the project will be transferred or leased to NTPC or its subsidiary. Open category solar cells and modules are required for the project, according to the bidding document. As per the detailed specifications and applicable technical standards, the EPC contractor must develop ground-mounted solar projects as well as a power evacuation system up to the interconnecting grid substation. To be eligible to bid, the bidder must have designed, supplied, erected, and commissioned grid-connected solar projects with a total installed capacity over 40 MW, with at least one project of 10 MW or higher. Similarly, to bid on projects within 50 MW to 300 MW capacity, the bidder must have completed a power, steel, oil and gas, petrochemical, fertiliser, cement, coal mining, or any other process industry project worth Rs 2.58 billion or more in the past 10 years, either as a developer or as an EPC contractor. For projects ranging from 310 MW to 500 MW in capacity, the bidder must have completed a project worth at least Rs 5.16 billion. The project must have been in operation for at least one year before the bid opening date. The bidder must also have completed at least one electrical substation of 33 kV or higher, consisting of equipment such as level circuit breakers and power transformers. For projects ranging from 50 MW to 300 MW capacity and 310 MW to 500 MW capacity, the average annual turnover of the bidder should be Rs 2.58 billion and Rs 5.16 billion, respectively, over the last three fiscal years. Image Source Also read: NTPC invites global bids for a 1 GWh grid-scale battery storage Also read: NTPC plans to install 60 GW RE capacity by 2032