Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has approved an annual transmission charge of ₹248.67 million (~$2.98 million) as per the final offer by Apraava Energy to acquire Fatehgarh IV Transmission, a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

The SPV was originally formed by PFC Consulting to evacuate 20 GW of power from a Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) under Phase III-Part A1 in Rajasthan.

However, the Commission clarified that this is subject to granting a transmission license to Fatehgarh IV Transmission.

Background

Fatehgarh IV Transmission filed the petition seeking the adoption of transmission charges for the project as per the provisions of the bid documents.

It also requested that the project be included in the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS), with the recovery of transmission charges under CERC (Sharing of ISTS Charges and Losses 2020) Regulations.

The Ministry of Power had appointed PFC Consulting as the bid process coordinator to select the transmission service provider via tariff-based competitive bidding.

A tender was floated in February 2022, and nine bidders responded to the tender, five of whom were eligible to participate in the e-reverse auction. The initial ceiling for final offers during the reverse auction was set at ₹377.81 million (~$4.53 million) per annum.

Apraava Energy was declared the winner after quoting the lowest bid of ₹248.67 million (~$2.98 million) per annum.

Commission’s analysis

The Commission analyzed the transparent bidding process and certified the selection of the successful bidder. It noted that the quoted tariff is lower than the levelized tariff calculated based on CERC norms, considering the capital cost for the project as assessed by the cost committee.

Based on the analysis, the Commission approved annual transmission charges of ₹248.67 million (~$2.98 million), pending the petitioner being granted a transmission license. These charges will remain valid throughout the transmission service agreement period.

The sharing of transmission charges by designated ISTS customers will follow the CERC (Sharing of ISTS Charges and Losses) Regulations, 2020, subject to amendments.

The petitioner highlighted a Ministry of Power policy incentivizing early commissioning. The policy allows the commencement of transmission charges from the actual Commercial Operation Date (COD) before the scheduled COD. The petitioner aimed to commission elements before the 18-month timeline, requesting consideration for recovering transmission charges from the actual COD.

Since the scope of the present petition is limited to the adoption of tariffs, the Commission stated that the request cannot be considered at this stage.

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