After not receiving any bids three times, the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. (KREDL) and Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) have once again called a tender for the solarisation of agriculture feeders in the State to power irrigation pump (IP) sets.
The first of its kind project in the State under Component C (Individual Pump Solarisation) of PM Kusum Yojana will receive 30% subsidy for the solar plants from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
KREDL will solarise agri feeders at substation levels on behalf of Hubballi Electricity Supply Company (Hescom) and Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) to provide power to 75,000 IP sets and Bescom will power 2,62,331 IP sets. “The workings of this project will be similar to that of how rooftop solar panels work in residential buildings. Throughout the day, the power generated by the solar panels installed in the substation will be used to run the IP sets under that substation,” explained a Bescom official.
The total proposed solar capacity for the project is 1,302,31 MW (1,081 by Bescom, 180 by Hescom, and 41.31 by CESC) and a total of 806 agri feeders will be solarised across 248 substations. At a cost of ₹3.5 crore per MW, the total cost of the project is estimated to be ₹4,558.09 crore. The MNRE will provide ₹1.05 crore per MW as subsidy.
The solarised agri feeders are expected to help in efficient power supply while also helping Escoms cut down transmission costs.
“We want to see decentralised power generation based on solar energy which is attached to the feeder from which we will supply power to the IP sets. We would also like to supply this power to the farmers during the day and with local generation, save our transmission charges,” said Gaurav Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Energy Department.
The bidders who will get selected for the commissioning of the project would have to work through Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) mode for 25 years and take care of selection of power generators, Build, Own and Operate (BOO), Installation, Maintenance among other things.
According to sources, there was no participation by bidders in the earlier tenders as the ceiling tariff was fixed at ₹2.32 by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC). There was no participation even when the tenders were invited without a ceiling tariff. Upon the requests from KREDL and Bescom, on September 6, KERC revised the ceiling tariff to ₹3.17 and thus fresh tenders have been floated now.
