The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) will soon decide whether to approve or suggest a few deviations in the power sale agreements (PSAs) for a total of 1,750 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.

When contacted, an APSPDCL official told Mercom that this is the general procedure that has to be followed if state distribution companies (DISCOMs) enter procurement agreements. The electricity commission ensures that the tariff and charges are competitive after going through the submitted documents (PSA, Bidding details) and provides approval.

The Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APSPDCL) has petitioned the APERC to approve three PSAs of 250 MW each between SECI and APSPDCL to procure a total of 750 MW of solar power generated at the proposed Kadapa Ultra Mega Solar Park.

These projects are being developed under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) Phase-II Batch-IV.

Moreover, APSPDCL had also petitioned the commission to approve three PSAs of 250 MW each that it had entered with the NTPC for the procurement of solar PV from NP Kunta (Phase-II) Solar Park in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. These projects are also being developed under JNNSM.

The DISCOM had also petitioned the APERC seeking the approval of a PSA for 250 MW of solar PV that it had entered with the NTPC. This solar PV project is being developed under NSM Phase-II Batch-II Tranche-I (Thermal Power bundled program).

The APERC has invited comments, suggestions from stakeholders on the matter. Suggestions, comments can be submitted up to April 15, 2019. The APERC has scheduled a public hearing on the matter on April 20, 2019.

As all of these PSAs are for the sale of power in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the commission has the jurisdiction to approve the PSA along with the tariff.

Recently, the DERC approved the PSA between Tata Power and SECI for the sale of power from 300 MW ISTS-connected solar PV projects. The DERC also issued a similar order approving the PSA between the two bodies with certain modifications but refused to approve the tariff for the procurement of 20 MW of solar power. In these cases, DERC could not approve tariff as power was being sourced from outside the state.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, Andhra Pradesh has an installed solar PV capacity of ~3 GW and a project development pipeline of ~2 GW.