NTPC Renewable Energy (NTPC REL) has issued a tender for the land and power evacuation package to support the development of 550 MW inter-state transmission system-connected solar projects with a battery energy storage system. These projects will be located near the 550 MW Shimboo ka Burj solar project in Rajasthan. The bid submission deadline is April 25, 2025, with bid openings scheduled for the same day. Interested bidders are required to pay a bidding document fee of Rs 22,500. The scope of work includes securing land on a freehold or leasehold basis, ensuring access roads, conducting topography surveys, and preparing the land for tracker-based mounting structures. Additional responsibilities involve geotechnical investigations for the pooling substation and transmission system, along with fencing and security arrangements. Lease management, including landowner payments throughout the contract period, is also part of the scope. For power evacuation, the project requires the design, engineering, erection, testing, and commissioning of a 400 kV AIS pooling substation equipped with tie transformers. The installation of a 33 kV pooling switchgear, related civil works, control room, and switchgear buildings are also included. A single-circuit EHV transmission line on double-circuit towers must be built from the project pooling substation to the 400 kV Shimboo Ka Burj solar project’s switchyard, ensuring right-of-way arrangements. Additional requirements include constructing a terminal bay at the 400 kV switchyard, setting up a telemetry system for data communication, and installing a power project controller for grid compliance. Bidders must also provide monitoring systems, mandatory spares, and operation and maintenance services for the pooling substation, transmission line, and terminal bay for three years post-commissioning. Eligibility criteria require bidders to have arranged land for grid-connected solar or wind projects totalling at least 100 MW, including one project or park of 50 MW or more. The reference project can be either commissioned or under development. Alternatively, bidders must have completed an industrial project worth at least Rs 420 million in sectors such as power, steel, oil and gas, petrochemicals, fertilizers, cement, or coal mining. These projects must have been operational for at least one year for non-renewable sectors or six months for renewable energy sectors before the bid opening. Additionally, bidders must have executed at least one electrical substation of 33 kV or higher, featuring circuit breakers and a power transformer. The substation must have been in operation for at least one year for non-renewable projects or six months for renewable energy projects before the bid opening date. Financial requirements include a minimum annual average turnover of Rs 420 million over the last three financial years and a positive net worth as of the last financial year’s end. Previously, in February, NTPC REL invited bids for a similar land and power evacuation package for a 600 MW solar power project in Tumkur, Karnataka. News source: Mercom India