Tenders Issued for 20 MW of Solar Projects in West Bengal

Durgapur Projects Limited (DPL) has issued a notice inviting tender (NIT) for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of 20 MW grid-connected solar projects on its thermal power station, including module manufacturing.

The entire project will be divided into 3 projects with capacities of 7 MW, 8 MW, and 5 MW. The projects must be completed within 12 months of receiving the award letter. Successful bidders will also be responsible for the project's operations and maintenance (O&M) activities for a period of five years. The deadline for bid submissions is May 14, 2022. On May 18, bids will be opened.

The three projects will be installed at Durgapur Projects in West Bengal. The location's land area is divided into three sections: 50 acres, 28 acres, and 30 acres.

Bidders must submit a 20 million ($262,686) earnest money deposit. The successful bidders will be required to provide 3% of the project cost as a contract performance bank guarantee. If the winning bid is less than $794.60 million ($10.43 million), the winning bidder must contribute an additional 10% of the project cost to the contract performance bank guarantee.

Bidders must have experience designing, supplying, testing, and commissioning rooftop, ground-mounted, or floating solar projects with at least one 7 MW project or two projects of 4 MW capacity each at a single location in the previous seven years to be eligible. These projects must have been in operation for at least six months prior to the bid submission deadline.

Bidders must have O&M experience from one 7 MW project or two 4 MW projects in the last six months as of the bid submission date.

Bidders must have had a minimum annual turnover of $300 million ($3.94 million) in the previous three fiscal years. Their net worth must be positive for the three years ending March 31, 2021, and cannot be less than 100% of the paid-up share capital.

If work is delayed beyond the deadline, the contractor must pay 0.5 percent of the contract value for each week of delay, up to a maximum of 10% of the project cost. The project should have a minimum annual solar energy generation of 1.54 MU/MW, with a 0.7 percent degradation beginning in the second year.

DPL recently issued a turnkey tender for 5 MW of grid-connected ground-mounted solar projects in Durgapur. DPL had also issued a tender for the engineering, procurement, and construction of a 7 MW solar project. According to Mercom's India Solar Tender Tracker, DPL has issued tenders for 41 MW of ground-mounted solar projects.