NHPC Limited floated tenders for engineering, procurement, and construction of a 500 MW solar power project connected with the interstate transmission system (ISTS) in Tamil Nadu. The successful bidder will also have to take responsibility for the project’s operation and maintenance (O&M) activities for 10 years. The deadline to submit the tenders is October 5, 2021, and tenders will open on October 12. The pre-bid meeting will be on September 3. The bidder can quote any capacity with a minimum capacity of 100 MW at one place and in multiples of 25 MW capacity. As an EPC contractor or a developer, the bidder should have designed, constructed, and commissioned grid-connected solar power projects of a cumulative established capacity of 40% of the quoted capacity in MW or higher, out of which at least one project should have been of 10% of the quoted bid capacity. The bidder should have experience of O&M for at least a solar power project of 10 MW or higher capacity for at least six months in the past five financial years. The bidder’s average yearly turnover during the past three financial years should not be less than Rs 7 billion for 100 MW tender capacity. The bidder must have a positive net worth in three out of the past five financial years. The working capital of the bidder must be Rs 800 million for 100 MW capacity. For bidders who have quoted higher than 100 MW, the requirement will be in multiples of the turnover specified for the 100 MW capacity. The bidder must provide proof of owning land acquired or leased to install renewable energy projects, equal to at least 50% of applied capacity. Solar modules from vendors registered in the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM), as declared by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, will be utilised in the project. Any bidder from a nation that shares a land border with India and is listed with the competent authority will be eligible to bid. In the bidding process, a Class-I local supplier will be given preference. A Class-I local supplier is a supplier or service provider whose goods or services have local content equivalent to or higher than 50%. In another tender, NHPC floated tenders from EPC contractors for a 100 MW ground-mounted grid-connected solar project and associated power evacuation system connected with a state transmission utility substation in Tamil Nadu. NHPC has so far invited EPC bids for 990 MW of solar power plants across the country. Image Source Also read: SECI floats tender for 1,200 MW ISTS solar projects in Karnataka