The Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (CSERC) has approved the power sale agreement (PSA) signed between the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Co.Ltd (CSPDCL) and Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) for 400 MW of solar-wind hybrid power.

To comply with its renewable purchase obligation (RPO) requirement, both solar and non-solar, the CSPDCL requires an additional 620 MW and 344 MW of solar and non-solar power, respectively, over the existing 517 MW of solar and 495 MW of non-solar power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Background

On June 20, 2019, the state DISCOM had executed a long-term power sale agreement with SECI, followed by a supplementary PSA in October 2019.

The Commission was requested to approve the PSA signed with SECI in June 2019, and the supplementary PSA signed in October 2019, for 400 MW hybrid power to meet its solar and non-solar renewable purchase obligation (RPO). The agreement was signed on a long-term basis at a tariff discovered through the competitive bidding process.

According to the petition, 400 MW would be available from the combination of installed capacity with wind and solar power in the proportion of 50.12% and 49.88%, respectively.

The Commission had invited comments, suggestions, or objections from stakeholders. The public hearing was held on February 1, 2020. However, no objections or suggestions were filed.

At present, the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company has 24 PPAs with biomass power projects to purchase 200.87 MW, 11 PPAs with small hydel power projects to purchase 143.85 MW and wind power PPA with SECI for 150 MW. In addition to these, the state has 14 PPAs with solar projects to purchase 517 MW.

The petition also states that the tariff for hybrid power of individual projects will be the tariff determined from the reverse auction process conducted by SECI plus the trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.00093)/kWh. As per SECI, the upper limit of tariff from wind and the solar hybrid project is ₹2.70 (~$0.04)/kWh, excluding the trading margin of ₹0.07 (~$0.00093)/kWh.

In March 2020, Mercom reported that the state commission issued the final generic levelized tariff regulations for small hydro, non‐fossil fuel‐based co‐generation, biomass, and solar projects in the state for 2019-20 and 2020-21. The Commission stated that for small hydro, solar, and non-fossil co-generation projects, the useful life would be 35, 25, and 20 years, respectively.

Recently, the Ministry of Power issued a draft proposal for the amendment of the Electricity Act 2003 to address contract enforcement, among other vital issues. The draft also states that the central government in consultation with the state governments come up with a National Renewable Energy Policy for the promotion of electricity generation from renewable energy sources.