The Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (GESCOM) has released a request for proposals for the design, supply, installation, and commissioning of 10 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar systems on residential buildings in seven Karnataka districts including Ballari and Vijayanagara.
What is Solar Rooftop System?
In this system, in any residential commercial, institutional and industrial building, the solar panels are installed in the roof. The power is generated by these systems during the daytime and is utilized properly by powering captive loads and send the excess power to the grid till it is available. If due to cloud cover, solar power is not enough or sufficient to run it then the captive loads are served by drawing power from the grid.
Under the ‘Soura Gruha Yojane’ program, the contract would include a five-year annual maintenance contract. In the districts of Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari, and Vijayanagara.
The deadline for bid submissions is April 12, 2021. On April 15, bids will be accepted. On April 5, a pre-bid meeting will be held.
The successful bidder should use only indigenously manufactured solar panels (both cells and modules manufactured in India) for the project.
Rooftop solar installations up to 3 kW will qualify for a subsidy of 40%. For rooftop installations above 3 kW and up to 10 kW will get a subsidy of 40% for the first 3 kW and 20% for the remaining capacity. For group housing societies and residential welfare associations, the central financial assistance (CFA) will be restricted to 20% for common facilities up to 500 kW.
If the discovered lowest price is higher than the benchmark cost set by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in each category, the benchmark cost will be treated as the lowest price. The rooftop solar systems’ benchmark costs range between ₹47,000/kW to ₹36,000/kW for system capacities of 1-500 kW.
To be eligible for participating in the bidding process, the lead bidder or its joint venture partner should be a system integrator or a module manufacturer, or both. The bidder should have executed projects with a minimum cumulative capacity of 80 percent, i.e., 400 kW, in the last 3 financial years. The bidder should have carried out the project for a Discom, state or central government, public sector undertaking, or private sector.
The applications will be shortlisted on a first-come, first-serve basis for a capacity of 10 MW (7 MW for residential and 3 MW for group housing societies and residential welfare associations).
