Operation and maintenance

State-run power producer NTPC has opened domestic bidding for three years of comprehensive operation and maintenance support at its 250 MWp Mandsaur solar plant. Bidding closes on May 27, while technical bids will open on May 30.

The Noida-headquartered energy company will provide three-year comprehensive operation and maintenance support for the 260 MW PV plant located at Bhadla Solar Park.

The Israeli robotic solar cleaning specialist, which has over 3 GW of deployed projects globally, today announced it has bagged an order from global investor Actis for a 150 MW PV project in India. 

The successful contractor will install the arrays in blocks of 2-10 MW and will carry out all stages of installation, from site surveys through to 12 years’ operation and maintenance.

The acquisition gives Reliance New Energy Solar access to Sterling and Wilson Solar’s PV plant engineering and project management skills as it aspires to become a global leader in green energy based on the latest and most cost-competitive technologies and development capabilities. 

Drones have already established themselves in industries as disparate as warfare, wedding photography, and burrito delivery, and increasingly the solar sector is taking the high road, too. Combined with thermal imaging, drones have the potential to obviate expensive maintenance costs for large-scale solar plants, as well as C&I and growing niches like floating PV. But how useful are they, and what role does AI play in making the most of a bird’s eye view?

The company’s revenue from EPC and operations and maintenance business stood at INR 1,195 crore, a 12% growth over the same period in the previous fiscal year. The gross margins remained suppressed owing to an increase in module and commodity prices.

The Indian multinational has landed a second order from an existing client for the turn-key execution, operation, and maintenance of a solar project. With this, its cumulative order book in the USA has swelled to around US$ 260 million (INR 1,880 crore).

The company attributes this milestone to many significant solar power projects that it won across India for its utility-scale SCADA and string monitoring solutions.

The state-owned power generator has reduced the tendered capacity from 600 MW to 500 MW. Further, the plants are to be located in Gujarat. Bidding closes on November 19.