Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board has kicked off a tender for the development of up to 165 MW (AC) of ground- mounted PV projects on a build, own, operate basis.

The solar plants can range in size from 1 MW to 5 MW and will be connected to one of 20 grid substations outlined in the tender documents, subject to capacity at each grid substation.

The chosen developers will design, finance, procure, construct, commission, operate and maintain the solar plants and all associated equipment and services. They will also procure or lease land required for the projects, meet the entire cost of grid interconnection, and secure all environmental clearances, government approvals and statutory licenses.

They will sign 20-year PPAs with the Ceylon Electricity Board for the supply of electricity beginning from the date of commercial operation. Applicants can submit more than one proposal for each grid substation up to its capacity. The deadline for applications is May 3.

Sri Lanka recorded 714 MW of solar capacity by the end of 2022, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.