Four years after the disconnection of Greenko Maha Wind Energy’s (Greenko) 2 MW Wind Turbine Generator (WTG), the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) has ordered its reconnection to the grid.

APTEL also directed the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) to sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Greenko within two weeks and allow reconnection within one week from the PPA signing.

The Tribunal said MSEDCL must issue credit notes for the energy injected from the WTG into the grid from the date of commissioning and disconnection.

It noted that the WTG should be deemed registered with the Maharashtra Energy Development Authority (MEDA) on November 23, 2015, and a formal registration certificate should be issued in a week.

Background

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) ordered the Maharashtra State Load Despatch Centre (MSLDC) to disconnect the 2 MW WTG located in Sangli district in Maharashtra because Greenko did not execute a PPA with MSEDCL.

Greenko set up 17 WTGs in the Sangli district in 2015. Each WTG had an installed capacity of 2 MW. Sixteen of the 17 WTGs were covered by PPAs signed in 2017. Eleven were commissioned on October 31, 2015, and the PPAs were signed on March 22, 2017.

Five WTGs were commissioned in March 2017, and the PPAs were executed in August 2017. The last 2 MW WTG was commissioned, but the PPA was not executed. The PPA was not signed due to a delay in issuing a certificate of registration from MEDA which had withheld the registration because the WTG was erected near the road and against micrositing guidelines.

A joint inspection with the petitioner, MSEDCL, and MEDA found that the distance between the WTG and PWD road was above the minimum required, i.e., 157.5m.

The WTG was commissioned in 2015 after getting permission from MEDA and MSEDCL. It generated power until 2020 without receiving objects from MSEDCL and MEDA. For some time, MSEDCL also issued credit notes for the power supply from the WTG. However, after five years of injecting power, the WTG was disconnected.

Commission’s Analysis

The Tribunal observed that the PPA was not signed due to MEDA’s ‘casual and unwarranted’ approach, for which the petition cannot be at fault. The petitioner also injected power into the grid without any objection from MSEDCL, MSLDC, or MEDA.

Hence, the tribunal ordered the WTG to be registered with MEDA on November 23, 2015. It ordered MEDA to issue a formal registration certificate to the Based on a previous MERC order, it was held that a generator could not feed electricity into the grid without having consent / contractual agreement with the distribution licensee and without approvals/scheduling of the power by the state load despatch center, and injection of such energy by the generator is not entitled to payment.

The Tribunal ruled that MSEDCL cannot evade payment to Greenko for the power received in its grid.

In October 2024, the APTEL reprimanded the MERC for failing to conduct a thorough, case-specific examination of a petitioner’s grievances and provide clear reasoning when applying precedents.

In the same month, APTEL ruled that a company’s banked energy at one facility cannot be adjusted against the electricity consumption of its other units.