The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has allowed a wind power developer to claim compensation on a change-in-law event arising from expenses incurred on installing bird flight diverters at its 151.2 MW wind projects located in the Great Indian Bustard habitat.

The Commission allowed carrying costs from the time the wind developer, Apraava Renewable Energy, filed the petition to the issuance of this order.

The Commission also ordered that carrying costs will be recovered in annuity payments at a discount rate of 9%. The annuity payments will be made for 15 years or for the remaining period of the power purchase agreement (PPA), whichever is shorter.

Background

In compliance with the Supreme Court order, Apraava installed bird diverters on its 33 kV and 220 kV transmission lines for its 151.2 MW wind projects at a cost of ₹122.74 million (~$1.35 million).

It had informed Rajasthan Urja Vikas and IT Services (RUVITL), Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam (JVVNL), and Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam (AVVNL) regarding the Supreme Court’s order mandating the installation of bird flight diverters and sought recovery of the additional expenditure incurred by it to install the bird diverters.

It also asked RUVITL to discuss the process of cost recovery in accordance with the PPA and change-in-law rules.

However, RUVITL, JVVNL, and AVVNL did not make any payment for the additional expenditure incurred by APREL.

Sipla Project

Making the case for a change-in-law event, APREL noted that as per the RERC (Terms and Conditions for Determination of Tariff) Regulations, 2009, the base capital cost at the beginning of the control period was set at ₹5.25 million (~$57,738)/MW which includes ₹150,000 (~$1,650)/MW as the cost of setting up the transmission line up to the pooling station for evacuation of power.

Apraava stated that based on the above capital cost calculation, the Commission had determined the generic tariff of ₹4.1 (~$0.045) /kWh for FY 2011 and ₹4.46 (~$0.049) /kWh for FY 2012.

However, the petitioner said that the Commission also issued the generic tariff for wind projects commissioned in FY 2013 at ₹5.18 (~$0.057)/kWh (without higher depreciation) and ₹4.89 (~$0.054)/kWh (with higher depreciation). The tariff was determined on the normative capital cost of ₹5.3 million (~$58,287)/MW, which includes the normative cost of ₹150,000 (~$1,650)/MW for setting up the transmission line up to the interconnection point.

APREL stated that between 2011 and 2013, it executed two PPAs with JVVNL and AVVNL for the supply of 50.4 MW of power from its Sipla Project at tariffs of ₹4.22 (~$0.046)/kWh, ₹5.18 (~$0.057)/kWh, and ₹5.18 (~$0.057)/kWh, respectively.

Tejuva Project

The company said it had also commissioned PPAs with JVVNL for the supply of 25.2 MW and 75.6 MW of power from its Tejuva project at tariffs of ₹5.64(~$0.062)/kWh and ₹5.74 (~$0.063)/kWh, respectively.

It noted that during the period, RERC determined the normative capital cost for FY 2015 as ₹5.65 million (~$62,137)/MW, including ₹250,000(~$2,749)/MW for setting up transmission lines up to the interconnection point for evacuating power.

It also submitted that the Commission determined a generic tariff for wind projects at ₹5.64 (~$0.062)/kWh (without higher depreciation) and ₹5.31 (~$0.058)/kWh (with higher depreciation) for the sale of power to Rajasthan DISCOMs. The tariff was determined based on a normative capital cost of ₹5.65 million (~$62,137)/MW, including the normative cost of ₹250,000(~$2,749)/MW for the overhead transmission system.

The Commission also announced a generic tariff for wind projects commissioned in FY 2016 at ₹5.74 (~$0.063)/kWh (without higher depreciation) and ₹5.14 (~$0.057)/kWh (with higher depreciation). The tariffs were estimated at a capital cost of ₹5.79 million (~$63,687)/MW, including the normative cost of ₹250,000 (~$2,749)/MW for setting up the overhead transmission systems.

Apraava said the tariffs determined did not factor in the cost of installing bird flight diverters.

In the order passed by the Supreme Court regarding the installation of bird flight diverters, they were mandated for all existing and future overhead transmission systems within the priority and potential GIB habitats.

The court also asked renewable energy project developers to convert their overhead transmission lines to underground lines. If underground lines were found infeasible, developers had to install bird flight diverters.

It added that the additional cost incurred to comply with the Supreme Court’s orders was to be mitigated in accordance with contractual terms.

Commission’s Analysis

After taking note of the petitioner’s submissions, the Commission said that since the PPAs included a change-in-law provision, the additional expenditure incurred to install bird flight diverters constituted a change-in-law event.

The Commission added that since the change-in-law event occurred after the execution of the PPAs, the petitioner was entitled to compensation arising from that event.

The Commission noted that, because of a change-in-law event, a petition claiming such relief must be filed within three years of the occurrence of the event. However, since the petitioner filed the petition in 2025, the carrying cost payable will apply from the date of filing until the issuance of this order.

It determined that the carrying costs will be lower of the actual rate of interest paid by the petitioner for arranging funds, the rate of interest on working capital as per RERC tariff regulations, or the late payment surcharge rate as per the PPA.

The Commission ordered RUVITL to make payments within 60 days of the issuance of this order.

In the event of a delay in annuity payments beyond 60 days, RUVITL must pay a late payment surcharge for each delayed annuity payment, as per the PPA.

In January 2026, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy approved time extensions for projects delayed due to the prolonged case in the Supreme Court over power transmission lines in the GIB areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

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