Uttar Pradesh recently announced its intention to setup solar PV capacity in the state by releasing a tender for the procurement of 200 MW of Solar PV. This comes close on the heels of the previous solar policy announcment which detailed plans to add 500 MW of solar capacity in the state by March 2017.
Some of the excerpts from the RfP are presented below
- Total Capacity Available – 200 MW
- Minimum Capacity – 5 MW
- Maximum Capacity – 50 MW (with multiples of 5 MW for any capacity between min and max)
- It is important to note that the capacities stated here are AC capacities and NOT DC capacities. What this means is that in all likelihood, the DC rating (module rating and hence number of modules required) would be higher than the AC rating.
- The plants are expected to have a minimum Capacity Utilisation Factor(CUF) of 15%
- Off-taker – UPPCL
- PPA Term – 10 years. This is the shortest PPA in terms of time frame amongst the prevalent state solar policies.
- Possibility to extend PPA beyond the 10 year duration (for an additional 15 years) at prevailing APPC price.
- It seems that UPPCL would be paying the APPC price, while the government foots the difference between the APPC price and the tariff quoted. The government willl not pay the difference beyond 10 years and hence power would have to be sold at APPC price after the 10th year.
- Expenditure on the construction of transmission line and substation will be borne by the State Government on all the projects in the Bundelkhand region only.
- Net Worth Criteria – Rs. 3.5 Crores per MW upto 25 MW; Rs. 2.5 crores per MW for additional capacity above 25 MW.
- Part commissioning of projects is allowed (in multiples of 5 MW) with PPA being enforced for a period of 10 years from the date of commissioning of each part.
- Selection process is through standard reverse-bidding selection. L1 would not be enforced on all bidders.
- The detailed timeline for the RfP process can be seen from the image below.
A pre-bid meeting is scheduled to be held on 4th April 2013 for any clarifications. The RfP can be downloaded in its entirety here.
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