The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has approved the tariffs proposed by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and PTC India Limited for 2 GW of wind power projects.

The two petitioners had quoted a tariff rate of ₹2.65 (~$0.04)/kWh and ₹3.46 (~$0.05)/kWh, respectively.

The order was issued after two separate petitions filed by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), and PTC India Limited requested the commission to approve the amount quoted by them for the wind projects (1 GW each).

Background:

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and PTC India Limited had filed separate petitions before the CERC seeking its approval for the adoption of tariffs for 2,000 MW (2×1000 MW) of wind power projects connected to the inter-state transmission system (ISTS).

In the petition, SECI requested the commission for the approval of ₹2.65/kWh (~$0.04)/kWh, along with a trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.001)/kWh for 1,000 MW of projects.

SECI had also submitted that some of these projects have already been commissioned. As the DISCOMs and wind developers are spread over multiple states, the DISCOMs had approached their respective state electricity regulatory commissions for the approval of the procurement process and the adoption of the tariff.

PTC, which was appointed as the trading licensee agency by SECI, also presented a petition to approve a pooled tariff rate of ₹3.46 (~$0.05)/kWh (including the trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.001)/ kWh) for another 1,000 MW of wind projects.

According to the petitioners, the power generated from these projects would also help the buying utilities and distribution companies in meeting their renewable energy purchase obligation (RPO) requirements.

The CERC observed that the selection of the successful bidders and the tariff of the projects had been carried out by SECI in accordance with the guidelines issued by the MNRE. The commission added that there was no deviation from the guidelines in the Request for Selection (RfS) documents.

Considering this, the commission approved the tariffs for the projects.

The two petitioners had also requested for the approval of the trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.001)/ kWh for the projects.

However, to this, the commission stated that the CERC could not approve the trading margin for long-term transactions since the new trading margin regulations do not provide the provisions for long-term transactions, and it should be done on a mutually agreed basis. Therefore, the trading margin mutually agreed by the two parties will apply to the projects.

Earlier this year, the CERC had issued a notification to address the procedure, terms, and conditions for the grant of licenses for electricity trading. In its order, the CERC said that for short-term contracts and contracts through power exchanges, the trading licensee should charge a minimum trading margin of ₹0 per kWh and a maximum trading margin of ₹0.07 ($0.00099)/kWh.

Last month, the CERC directed three distribution companies in the state of Rajasthan to pay ₹313.4 million (~$4.4 million) to NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) in a trading margin dispute.

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