The Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) has released a request for selection (RfS) of renewable power producers to build 40 MW of solar plants of 500 kW and 2 MW capacity under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) program. The tariff limit for the proposal is Rs 3.66 per kWh. The deadline to present the tenders is December 8, 2021. The proposals will be opened on December 14. The pre-bid meeting will be conducted on November 24. Bidders have to provide an earnest money deposit of Rs 100,000 per MW. The successful bidder should offer Rs 500,000 per MW as a performance bank guarantee within 30 days of releasing the letter of award (LoA). Bidders can take part as individuals or groups of farmers, farmer producer organisations, cooperatives, panchayats, or water user organisations to install projects on their lands. If bidders cannot arrange the capital required to build solar plants, they can choose to develop projects through a developer signing a land lease contract. Panchayats, individual farmers, groups of farmers, farmer producer organisations, cooperatives, water user associations are not needed to satisfy the financial eligibility criteria to set up solar projects on their lands. If a developer needs to set up projects on leased land, the bidder’s net worth must not be less than Rs 10 million per MW of the used capacity. The renewable power generator should reveal the capacity utilisation factor while inking a power purchase agreement (PPA). The CUF must be lower than 15% over a year, and the generator must produce minimum power within the permissible lower limit of CUF revealed by the generator. The successful bidder will have to launch projects within a year of the effective date of the PPA. The firm will additionally be responsible for building 11 kV lines from the solar plants to the substation, developing the bay, and setting up the switchgear at the sub-station where the project would be connected to the grid. Last month, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited floated tenders for 444 MW of decentralised solar plants of 500 kW to 2 MW capacity under component A of the PM-KUSUM program in Maharashtra. Image Source Also read: RUMSL floats tender for 600 MW floating solar park in Madhya Pradesh