The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has issued an order approving the power purchase agreements (PPAs) of solar projects totaling 23 MW.

The commission was examining a common petition filed by Haryana Power Purchase Centre (HPPC) for the approval of a draft PPA it had signed with four solar project developers and a referral by the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL).

In 2015, Haryana Power Purchase Centre (HPPC) had entered into an agreement with Balarch Renewable Energy for 1 MW of solar power, Neel Metal Product Limited for 20 MW of solar PV, Ultimate Sun Systems for 1 MW of solar and with Subhash Infra Engineers for another 1 MW project. The Haryana body had entered these agreements at a tariff of ₹6.44 (~$0.09)/kWh.

Back in 2016,  the state commission had issued an order stating that HPPC will restore the bank guarantee as well as certificate of public goods amount without any other cost to the project developers. In its 2016 order, the commission had also stated that in case of the successful bidders who have already commissioned their projects or are nearing completion (more than 80 percent complete) can explore the possibilities for arriving at an equitable and reasonable solution to arrive at a tariff aligned to the prevailing market conditions.

Aggrieved by the order, Balarch Renewable Energy, JBM Solar Power, Subhash Infra Engineers, and Utrecht Solar had filed an appeal before the APTEL.

After reviewing the facts and circumstances of the case, the APTEL ordered that the PPAs signed be allowed by the state commission at the tariff of ₹5.68 (~$0.080)/kwh without accelerated depreciation. The APTEL later handed the matter to Haryana Electricity Commission.

Consecutively, the commission has approved PPAs for the 23 MW of solar PV capacity but at an altered tariff of ₹5.678 (~$0.0808)/kWh. The HERC has also directed HPPC to submit a copy of signed PPAs within 15 days from the date of this order.

Recently, the HERC issued an order approving the deviations in the terms of PPA for the procurement of power by HPPC from a 10 MW solar PV project developed by Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGCL).