Karnataka releases RFP for allocation of 50 MW Solar projects

Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited(KREDL) has released the Request for Proposal for the Phase 3 of the state’s solar policy. It is understood that this RFP was necessitated after some of the lowest winning bidders from the previous tendering process had declined to sign the Power Purchase Agreements(PPA) citing unviability of their projects at the tariff they had quoted. It may be recalled that the tariffs quoted in Karnataka was among the lowest in the country(Minimum at Rs. 5.51/kWh). The details of the winners from the previous allocation process can be accessed here. It is also learnt that the option of blacklisting developers who had declined to sign the PPAs is being considered. The blacklisted bidders might not be able to participate in any bidding process anywhere in the country.
The RFP is very similar to the previous RFP released one year back. (The details of the previous RFP are available here).
The Bid submission due date is April 30, 2014 and the bid opening(except financial bid) is May 9, 2014. A pre-bid conference is scheduled for April 21, 2014.
Some of the highlights are given below.
1.  The 50 MW projects could be Solar PV and/or Solar Thermal.The selection will be through reverse bidding, with no L1 process.
2. A bidder can propose 3 projects, but the total allocation will be limited to 10 MW per bidding group. Size of an individual project – 3 MW minimum and 10 MW maximum.
3. Financial Closure – 270 days from the date of signing the Power Purchase Agreement(PPA).
4. Commissioning deadline of the project – 18 months for PV and 30 months for CSP from the date of signing of PPA.
5. The Benchmark tariff as per KERC order of FY 2014-18 are as follows
– Solar PV : Rs. 8.40/kWh
– Solar Thermal : Rs. 10.92/kWh
6. Capacity Utilisation Factor(CUF) – Same as the previous RFP.
The RFP, Draft PPA and other documents can be downloaded at http://kredlinfo.in/ .
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