SECI Issues RfS Document for 5 GW RTC Power From RE and Thermal

SECI has issued the RfS document for supply of 5 GW of RTC power from RE projects, complemented with power from coal-based thermal power projects in India.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued the Request for Selection (RfS) document for the selection of renewable energy (RE) power developers for the supply of 5 GW of Round-the-Clock (RTC) power from grid-connected renewable energy projects, complemented with power from coal-based thermal power projects in India.

SECI had issued the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) for the project in February. Which stated that the developments in the renewable energy sector and the necessity to address the issues of intermittency, limited hours of supply and low capacity utilisation of transmission infrastructure make case for “reverse bundling”, wherein high-cost thermal power is allowed to be bundled with cheaper renewable energy and is provided round-the-clock to the Discom.

The last date for bid submission is May 4, 2020, and the techno-commercial bids will be opened on May 7, 2020. A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for April 7, 2020, to address the concerns raised by the prospective bidders. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 250 crore and all bidders must submit an Earnest Money Deposit of Rs 5 lakh per MW per project.

RE Power Developers (RPD) selected by SECI based on this RfS, shall set up RE Power Projects on Build Own Operate (BOO) basis in accordance with the provisions of this RfS document and standard Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). SECI shall enter into PPA with successful RPDs for a period of 25 years. A composite single tariff for renewable energy, complemented with thermal energy shall be quoted by the bidders.

Furthermore, under the RfS, the minimum bid capacity shall be 500 MW.

The RPD shall supply RE power complemented with thermal power, if required, on a “Round-the-Clock” basis, keeping at least 80 percent availability on an annual basis. The RPD is required to supply at least 51 percent of annual energy from RE sources, including ESS if any, for the purpose of this RfS and the balance may be drawn from existing coal-based thermal energy Projects. The RPD can combine Energy Storage Systems (ESS) for ensuring that it achieves the required minimum annual availability of 80 percent. However, a minimum of 51 percent of energy shall be despatched from renewable sources. This 51 percent shall also include despatch from the storage system, provided RE sources are used to store energy in the storage system.

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