The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has issued a tender offering 54 MW of hybrid solar and biomass power capacity on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis in the state of Indian state of Punjab. Out of this, 48 MW is planned to come from solar and 6 MW from biomass under a power bundling scheme.

This means that 1 unit of biomass will be bundled with 2 units of solar power to bring down the cost of bundled power and also address the concern of environmental pollution caused by farmers burning agro residues in their fields that is known to have damaged the air quality in the region.

The solar power capacity can be installed at up to 4 locations, while the biomass project will consist of the entire 6 MW to be deployed at one place. Hybrid power developers (HPD) will need to choose the location for these plants. Solar panels for this project may be sourced from any country.

The base tariff for bundled power generation for the hybrid project will be INR 4.25 ($0.061) per kWh, comprising INR 2.60 (0.037) per kWh as a levelized fixed tariff and INR 1.65 ($0.024) per kWh with a possible annual escalation of 5%.

Bid submission will be allowed till July 23, 2019, and techno-commercial bids will be opened on July 26, 2019. Tender details with tender ID 2019_PEDA_33985_1 are available on Punjab government’s e-procurement portal.

By April 30, 2019, Punjab’s renewable energy generation capacity reached 1.6 GW with 950 MW of operational solar power capacity and biomass comprising 66.5 MW of the total. Power generated from 54 MW tendered will be procured by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

Edit by Anu Bhambhani