State-run Solar Energy Corporation of India has floated bids for procuring 1,680 megawatt peak capacity of domestically produced solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and cells. The last date of submitting bids is July 29 and tender will be opened on the same day.

The total capacity of 1680 MWp is proposed to be awarded to multiple bidders in single or double packages. The PV modules including mandatory spares will have to be supplied in phases during the delivery window from July 1, 2023 till March 31, 2024.

Tender

The total capacity is divided into four packages of 420 MWp each. The bidder may quote either for a single package or a maximum of two,” SECI said in the tender document.

Besides, no intermediary package capacities are allowed to be quoted, it added.

In case of Crystalline Silicon technology, all process steps and quality control measures involved in manufacturing the solar cells and modules-from wafers until final assembly of the sells into modules-shall be performed at the works of PV manufacturers in India, it added.

The supplier shall provide 0.5 per cent of the awarded package capacity as mandatory spares. The location of the project site for delivery of PV modules may be on a pan-India basis. However, the actual site details will be provided at the time of dispatch.

Promoting domestic industries

The SECI bids mandate the use of only indigenously-produced solar PV cells and modules as per specifications and testing requirements fixed by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE).

For the supplies to be done under this tender, both the solar cells and modules must be made in India and the modules shall be from the manufacturers listed in the ALMM list, SECI said.

This means that this procurement will be through a Class I Local Supplier only. A Class I local supplier means a supplier or service provider, whose goods, services or works offered for procurement, has local content equal to or more than 50 per cent, as defined.

Solar modules account for around 60-65 per cent of the overall cost of setting up a solar power project. The total capacity for manufacturing solar modules in the country, as on March 31, 2022, is about 11.5 GW.

As of December 2021, SECI has successfully awarded more than 50 GW of renewable capacity across the country, out of which 32.69 GW is solar power, 12.73 GW is wind power and 5.35 GW is hybrid power. Besides, it has operational capex projects of 21 MW capacity under its ownership and the company is looking to expand its portfolio in renewable energy.

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