The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has granted a transmission license to POWERGRID Khavda II-C Transmission, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), for the evacuation of 4.5 GW of renewable energy at the Khavda pooling station, Gujarat under Phase-II, Part C on a build, own, and operate basis.

The Commission said the evacuation of 4.5 GW of renewable energy under Phase II, including Parts A to D, has to be taken up in a similar timeframe.

It directed the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to monitor the execution of the project and bring to its notice any lapse on the part of the licensee to meet the schedule.

Background

Based on the competitive bidding process carried out by REC Power Development and Consultancy (RECPDCL), PGCIL emerged as the successful bidder with the lowest quoted annual transmission charges of ₹2.82 billion (~$34.28 million) to set up the transmission system to evacuate 4.5 GW renewable energy from Khavda Solar Park.

A public notice about the project was published in the leading newspapers, and no suggestions were received from the public in response to the notice.

The case was heard on July 21, 2023, and the petitioner informed the Commission that the scheduled commercial operation date of the project would be March 21, 2025.

The transmission program includes Parts A, B, C, and D, and as per the transmission service agreement (TSA), all four parts are interlinked and should be taken up in a similar time frame. However, from the information submitted by the Central Transmission Utility of India (CTUIL), there is a mismatch in the commissioning date of Part A, which is March 28, 2025, and the commissioning date of Parts B, C, and D is March 21, 2025, with each part being implemented by a different entity.

In case Parts B, C, and D are declared commissioned on the scheduled commercial operation date, there will be commercial liabilities in the absence of Part A, whose scheduled commercial operation date is on March 28, 2025.

Accordingly, the Commission directed CTUIL to amend the TSAs for Parts A to D to align the scheduled commercial operation date of all the interlinked packages.

Commission’s analysis

The Commission observed that the transmission company met the requirements of the Electricity Act and the Transmission Licence Regulations for granting a transmission license.

Accordingly, CERC granted the transmission license to Khavda II-C Transmission to evacuate 4.5 GW of renewable energy at the Khavda pooling station (Phase-II, Part C).

The Commission noted that the grant of a transmission license would be subject to the fulfillment of the following conditions:

• The central regulator added that the transmission agreement would remain in force for 25 years from the agreement’s signing date.
• Also, since the expiry date as per the TSA is 35 years from the scheduled commercial operation date of the project, the licensee may apply two years before the expiry of the initial license period for the grant of transmission license for another term.
• The licensee should not enter into any contract for or otherwise engage in the trading of electricity during the period of validity of the transmission license.
• The licensee must pay the license fee per the guidelines in the CERC (Payment of Fees) Regulations, 2012. Failure to pay the license fee within 60 days will be considered a violation.
• The licensee should comply with the directions of the National Load Despatch Center or the Regional Load Despatch Center.
• The licensee should comply with the CERC (Standard of Performance of inter-State transmission licensees) Regulations, 2012.
• The licensee must offer non-discriminatory open access to its transmission system, allowing usage by any other licensee, including distribution licensees, electric traders, generating companies, or any individual.
• The licensee should not undertake any other business for optimum utilization of the transmission system without intimating the Commission and should comply with the provisions of the CERC (Sharing of Revenue Derived from Utilization of Transmission Assets for Other Business) Regulations, 2020.
• The licensee should remain bound by the provisions of the CERC (Sharing of Interstate Transmission Charges and Losses) Regulations, 2020.
• The licensee should ensure the execution of the project within the timeline specified in the provisions of the TSA and as per the technical standards and the grid standards of CEA.
• The licensee should coordinate with the licensees executing the upstream or downstream transmission projects, the CEA, and CTUIL to ensure the smooth execution of the project.
• The licensee should submit all information as may be required under the Transmission Licence Regulations, Standard of Performance Regulations, TSA, or any other regulation of the Commission.

In June this year, CERC granted a transmission license to Karur Transmission to evacuate 1,000 MW of renewable power from the Karur/Tiruppur wind energy zone in Tamil Nadu under Phase-I.

Earlier, CERC had granted a transmission license to Khavda-Bhuj Transmission to establish the 3 GW of renewable energy injection network at the Khavda pooling station under Phase-I.

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