Coal India joint venture Coal Lignite Urja Vikas, and National Lignite Corporation (NLC), have invited bids to install a 40 MW ground-mounted, grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) power project for South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) at Bishrampur and Bhatgaon in Surajpur District, Chhattisgarh. The bids were invited under the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode, combined with ten years of operations and maintenance (O&M). The deadline to present the tenders is 15th October 2021. Tenders will be opened on the same day. Prospective bidders must pay Rs 10,000 towards the tender document cost. The solar power projects must be launched nine months after receiving the letter of award (LoA). The scope of work involves engineering, design, site development, site study, manufacturing, transport, supply, insurance, inspection at supplier’s works, storage, erection, installation, testing, and commissioning with a connected power evacuation system. The scope covers obtaining grid connectivity permission from the Chhattisgarh state electricity officials, metering arrangements, external transmission lines, bay extensions and performance assessment. The successful bidder must render O&M for ten years, comprising a first-year warranty period O&M for the complete 40 MW capacity at Bishrampur and Bhatgaon areas on a lump sum turnkey basis. The bidder must be a solar developer or an EPC player who has implemented supply, establishment, and commissioning of grid-connected solar PV power plants with a total installed capacity of 20 MW or up in the past seven years as of the original scheduled bid opening date. Of these, at least one facility should have been of 10 MW capacity or higher and should be successfully operational for at least six months as on the scheduled date of tender opening. The bidder can also be a leader of a consortium consisting of not over three companies, and collectively they must meet the qualifying conditions specified above. The consortium members must provide a backup bank guarantee. The bidder can also be a JV, and JV partners must fulfil the qualifying requirements. The partner of the JV based on whom the JV gets eligible must have a minimum of 26% equity in the firm. The bidder or the lead member of the consortium or major partner of the JV must have a positive net worth according to the latest audited financial statements. If the bidder takes part along with a collaborator, the bidder must have a positive net worth, according to the latest audited financial statements. The average yearly turnover of the bidder, or the consolidated average yearly turnover of the bidder and collaborator, of the consortium partners and all the JV company promoters must not be less than Rs 480 million in the past three financial years. Image Source Also read: Open access solar installations in India at 209 MW in Q2 FY22