Background:
As an emerging economy, India's electricity demand is increasing rapidly. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Indian government has set an ambitious target of 500 GW of installed non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030, with around 300 GW coming from solar energy alone. Agrivoltaics, the simultaneous use of arable land for agriculture and electricity generation through solar photovoltaics (PV), can play a key role in reaching this target. This approach offers the potential to mobilise additional land for the expansion of solar-based power generation while ensuring food security and avoiding potential land conflicts. Through the expansion of agrivoltaics in India, farmers and rural communities will be empowered to play an active role in India’s energy transition and benefit through new employment opportunities, increased and more diversified incomes. Their resilience to climate impacts is enhanced through crop protection, and improved microclimate and water regulation. The main identified barriers to the uptake of agrivoltaics in India so far are the lack of scientific data on India-specific contexts, awareness, capacities, suitable business models and financing instruments as well as clear legal and policy frameworks.
The Centre of Excellence (CoE) for AgriPV is jointly led by ICAR-Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) and the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), in agreement with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The CoE focuses on optimizing land use, enhancing energy efficiency, increasing agricultural productivity, and promoting sustainable rural development through AgriPV systems. It also works towards developing a crop productivity matrix specific to AgriPV systems and establishing a robust framework for AgriPV implementation in India. CoE aims to support the large-scale adoption of AgriPV systems by generating reliable research evidence, building national knowledge and technical capacity, supporting awareness initiatives, and providing clear, data-based inputs for policymaking.
GIZ intends to engage a contractor to provide technical support for research, knowledge dissemination, policy advisory, and institutional strengthening activities under the Centre of Excellence on Agrivoltaics.
Objectives:
- Support advanced research and system optimisation for agrivoltaics through analysis of crop performance, energy generation, and environmental impacts across demonstration sites.
- Comprehensive knowledge dissemination and outreach through workshops at National and state level, webinars, Support to Delegation Visits, Knowledge Exchange, South-South Exchange & International Collaboration and outreach activities targeting farmers, policymakers, researchers, and private sector stakeholders.
- Provide policy advisory support and contribute to standardisation, policy recommendations, including development of policy briefs, guidelines, and regulatory recommendations for agrivoltaics deployment in India.
- Strengthen institutional capacities and establish Regional Centres of Excellence (R-CoEs) to support research, demonstration, and knowledge exchange on agrivoltaics across different agro-climatic regions.
The interested bidders are requested to submit the proposal in digital format / electronically – please refer to the bidding conditions and follow the instructions carefully.
The detailed documentation with regards to this call for proposals includes:
- Terms of Reference for the Assignment
- Grid for Assessing the Eligibility +Legal Inferences
- Technical Evaluation Grid
- C02 Emission Document
- Bidding Conditions + Financial Format
- General Terms & Conditions of Contracts