The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has approved a tariff of ₹2.54 (~$0.035)/kWh as requested by Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) to procure 100 MW of solar power from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

Background

TPDDL had filed a petition for the purchase of 100 MW of solar power from SECI, based on the competitive bidding process per the guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Power (MoP).

Back in January 2018, SECI had issued a Request for Selection (RfS), for setting up of 2,000 MW of solar projects. The tender was oversubscribed by 1.8 GW, as reported previously by Mercom.

The e-reverse auction for the 2,000 MW capacity was carried out on July 02, 2018. ACME Solar, Shapoorji Pallonji, Hero Solar, Mahindra Susten, Azure Power, and Mahoba Solar were declared as the successful bidders with allotted capacities of 600 MW, 250 MW, 250 MW, 250 MW, 600 MW, and 50 MW respectively.

TPDDL had signed the power supply agreement (PSA) with SECI for the procurement of 100 MW of solar power for the fulfillment of its renewable purchase obligation (RPO) and filed a petition before the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission which later approved the PSA. Since the adoption of tariff along with trading margin could only be approved by the CERC, TPDDL filed the present petition.

SECI, in its submission, had noted that besides TPDDL, there were other distribution licensees purchasing power from SECI.

Based on the request of distribution licensees, 150 MW was allocated to BSES Yamuna Private Limited, 400 MW was allocated to BSES Rajdhani Private Limited, 100 MW to TPDDL, 250 MW to Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL). Similarly, 700 MW was allocated to Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL), 100 MW to Haryana Power Purchase Center (HPPC), and 300 MW to GRIDCO.

Subsequently, the Commission adopted the tariff of ₹2.44 ($0.033)/kWh for ACME Solar, ₹2.52 ($0.034)/kWh for Shapoorji Pallonji, 2.53 ($0.0348)/kWh for Hero Solar, 250 MW for Mahindra Susten, and 600 WM for Azure Power. The Commission adopted the tariff of 2.54 ($0.0349)/kWh for Mahoba Solar.

Further, the Commission noted that the concerned parties should abide by the trading license regulations when it comes to the trading margin. The Commission stated that the petitioners should be governed by regulation 8 (1) (f) which states:

“For transactions under back to back contracts, where escrow arrangement or irrevocable, unconditional and revolving letter of credit is not provided by the trading licensee in favor of the seller, the trading licensee will not charge trading margin exceeding ₹0.02 (~$0.0003)/kWh.”

The central body had given a similar order a few days ago in a petition filed by SECI for the adoption of tariffs for 840 MW wind-solar hybrid power projects.