NTPC Renewable Energy has announced a call for bids for a Balance of System (BoS) package for a 1 GW interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected wind energy project in the Davangere region, Karnataka (Tranche-IV). Interested bidders must submit their proposals by July 15, 2024, with bid opening scheduled for the same day.

Bidders are required to pay ?22,500 (~$269) for the bidding document. The project scope encompasses detailed design, engineering, micro-siting, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing, commissioning, and performance verification for the installation of the wind project. Key components include 33 kV internal evacuation lines, pooling substation, central monitoring and control station, wind monitoring masts, and external extra high voltage transmission lines up to the ISTS substation.

However, the BoS package will exclude the supply, civil works, and installation of wind turbine generators, unit substations, and SCADA systems. Bidders must ensure that their proposed wind projects are compatible with wind turbine generators of 3 MW or above, sourced from the Revised List of Models and Manufacturers.

Eligibility criteria for bidders include having arranged land or micro-sited wind turbines for projects with a cumulative capacity of 40 MW or more, including at least one project of 10 MW. Alternatively, they may qualify by having land arrangements or technical feasibility approvals for power evacuation through STU/ISTS substations for projects with a cumulative capacity of 100 MW or more, with at least one project of 50 MW or more.

Additionally, bidders should have developed grid-connected wind power projects with a cumulative installed capacity of 40 MW or more, including at least one 10 MW project operational for at least six months before the bid opening. They must have executed an industrial project as developers or EPC contractors in the power, steel, oil and gas, petrochemical, fertilizer, cement, or any other process industry within the last decade.

Financially, for projects ranging from 50 MW to 300 MW, the minimum figure should be ?570 million ($6.8 million), and for projects over 300 MW, it is ?1.9 million ($22,777) per MW. Bidders must have executed at least one electrical substation of 33 kV or higher voltage level and demonstrate a positive net worth as of the last financial year.

In addition to this project, NTPC Renewable Energy has also called for bids for a BoS package for another 1,000 MW ISTS-connected wind energy project in the Bellary region, Karnataka (Tranche-V), and for a 500 MW state transmission utility-connected solar power project in Bhadla, Rajasthan.