The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) has approved ₹3.90 (~$0.062)/kWh as the interim tariff for the electricity supplied from the 50 MW Kasargod Solar Park set up in Ambalathara village of Kasargod district.

The interim tariff will be payable by Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) for the supply of power from IREDA’s 50 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) project.

KSERC’s decision comes in the wake of a petition filed by IREDA. In June 2017, IREDA had petitioned KSERC for the approval of the Power Sale Agreement (PSA) between KSEB and IREDA for the 50 MW solar PV project.

IREDA had raised the issue of non-payment for the 40 MU (million units) of solar energy supplied to the KSEB Ltd system. In its petition, IREDA emphasized that the issue of non-payment was affecting its finances and requested the commission to approve an interim tariff for the electricity generated from the project and supplied to KSEB Ltd.

At that time, the KSERC had not approved the generic tariff of ₹4.95 (~$0.076)/kWh, arguing that IREDA did not submit the necessary details for determining the tariff, including the capital cost incurred by the project. Other financial parameters for determining the tariff like the interest rate, operation and maintenance cost, central financial assistance, were also not provided, KSERC said.

According to IREDA, out of the total 50 MW, 36 MW got commissioned on March 31, 2017, and the balance capacity was commissioned during September 2017.

Kerala joined the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) program in March 2017 to improve the operational efficiency and enable KSEB’s sustainable operation.

Mercom previously reported that Kerala plans to set up close to 1,000 MW of renewable energy projects in the coming years, comprising both solar and wind, to meet its increasing energy demand.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, the state of Kerala has an installed solar capacity of 76.4 MW and a project pipeline of 57.65 MW to date.

Image credit: Flickr

Article updated with currency conversions