Madhya Pradesh’s 300 MW floating solar tender attracts bids for 1 GW

The second 300 MW installment of the 600 MW Omkareshwar floating solar project in Madhya Pradesh has attracted enormous interest with a cumulative 1 GW bid from seven developers. 

Three, including NHDC, SJVN, and Tata Power Solar, bid for 200 MW each. The rest four (Eden Renewables, Hinduja, Mahindra Susten, and NTPC) have made bids for 100 MW each, Avaneesh Shukla, executive engineer with Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd (RUMSL) told pv magazine.

“It’s a good response with respect to floating solar being a new technology, I think we will set a trend for others to follow across the world,” said Shukla. 

Financial bids will open on November 7.

Speaking about the massive response to the tender, Bridge To India Managing Director Vinay Rustagi said, “Madhya Pradesh has a well-established and streamlined procurement process consistently attracting strong bidding interest. But there is another factor at play here—project developers are anxious to build a pipeline as auction volumes have dried up this year. In the nine months to September, only 7,600 MW renewable capacity had been allocated, which is a five-year low.”

RUMSL, a joint venture of the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd and Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd, is implementing the 600 MW floating solar park at the Omkareshwar Reservoir under the Centre’s Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPP) Scheme. Upon completion, the park will be India’s largest floating PV plant and one of the world’s biggest floating solar installations. 

M.P. Power Management Company Limited will purchase the entire 600 MW of power generated from the project. 

The floating solar project is being constructed in two 300 MW phases on the reservoir formed by the Omkareshwar dam across the Narmada river. RUMSL has already issued letters of award to NHDC, AMP Energy, and SJVN to develop a total capacity of 278 MW in the first phase.