The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) recently rejected a captive power generator’s request to adjust the banked energy for one year.

The captive power generator should have provided the distribution companies (DISCOMs) the day-ahead schedule according to the ‘Open Access Regulations, 2012.’

The Commission said that there was a provision in the ‘Open Access Regulations’ to enable the DISCOMs to manage the drawal of power from the grid and cost-effectively implement load control measures. The scheduling and deviation mechanism had been created to enable the DISCOMs to forecast load-generation balance in real-time and settle deviations and transmission loss at the grid level.

Piccadily Agro Industries and Piccadily Hotels had filed a petition requesting the Commission to direct the DISCOMs to adjust the energy banked from January 23, 2019, to January 22, 2020. They had requested for the DISCOMs to be directed to extend the power supply to Piccadily Hotels and not disrupt it because of the non-payment of energy dues from February 2020 to  October 2021.

Background

Piccadily Agro Industries is a sugar mill with a 17 MW bagasse-based co-generation captive power plant in Karnal.

Piccadily Hotels is an equity shareholder of Piccadily Agro Industries and a beneficiary under the banking agreement availing power from the 17 MW bagasse-based captive power project.

The petitioner opted to avail the banking facility of its excess power to the extent of 5 MW generated through its bagasse-based co-generation plant.

The power generator entered into a banking agreement with the Haryana Power Purchase Center on January 23, 2015, and after that, the agreement was renewed.

When the agreement for energy banking was due to expire on January 22, 2019, the petitioner requested a renewal.

A  tripartite banking agreement was executed between the petitioner and the DISCOMs for the banking facility beyond January 22, 2019. The agreement was executed on January 24, 2020, having retrospective effect from January 23, 2019, until January 22, 2024.

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), in its submission, said that the scheduling of drawal of power was a mandatory condition for the settlement of energy. Piccadily Hotels had not scheduled its banked energy drawl for January 23, 2019, to January 22, 2020. It did not take open access permission during the period, which is a mandatory condition per the ‘Renewable Energy Regulations, 2017.’

The DISCOM added that because of the violation of the open access regulations and short-term open access granted to the power generators, the petitioners were not entitled to a settlement of power injected from January 23, 2019, to January 24, 2020.

Commission’s analysis

The Commission observed that power was injected by Piccadily Agro Industries from its 17 MW bagasse-based co-generation captive power project in Karnal and had availed banking facility up to 3 MW for utilization of Piccadily Hotels.

The state regulator added that the ‘Renewable Energy Regulations, 2017’ had not granted any waiver for any renewable energy generator other than solar. The imbalance charges would be applied per ‘Open Access Regulations, 2012.’

An open access agreement was required to be executed in addition to the banking agreement.

The Commission noted that firm power could not be injected into the grid before the operationalization of open access and obtaining prior approval from the State Load Dispatch Centre.

It said that Piccadily Hotels had not scheduled its banked energy drawal for January 23, 2019, to January 22, 2020. The petitioner also did not take open access permission during the period, which is a mandatory condition as per the ‘Open Access Regulations, 2012.’

The Commission observed that the petitioner’s obligation to submit a day-ahead banking schedule was not dependent upon the formal signing of the open access agreement or banking agreement or communication by the DISCOMs.

The Commission noted that power injection and drawal schedule were essential to enable the DISCOMs to forecast load and plan their power procurement.

Recently, HERC set ₹1.08 (~$0.014)/kWh as the additional surcharge for the consumers of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam for availing power under the open access mechanism.

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