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					</table>The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (<a href="https://www.aptel.gov.in/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">APTEL</a>) has affirmed the rights of power generators Vaayu (India) Power Corporation and Vishwind Infrastructure to terminate their power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh (<a href="https://www.apspdcl.in/index.jsp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">APSPDCL</a>).
The decision comes in the wake of APSPDCL&#8217;s persistent defaults on payment obligations, which were previously identified by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (<a href="https://aperc.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">APERC</a>).
It also allowed the two wind energy generators to sell their power under open access arrangements.
Background
The Tribunal&#8217;s ruling was based on appeals filed by APSPDCL and other related entities against a common order issued by APERC on December 20, 2023.
The disputes originated from multiple PPAs between APSPDCL and the two wind energy generators for projects located in Kurnool district, with a total capacity of 50.4 MW for Vaayu and 7.2 MW for Vishwind.
The agreements were established with a tariff of ₹3.50 (~$0.041) per unit for the first ten years, with subsequent tariffs subject to APERC&#8217;s determination.
Since the commencement of operations, both generators supplied power and issued regular invoices.
However, as early as 2020, issues arose regarding delayed payments, prompting Vaayu to seek legal recourse from APERC. Despite some payments made by APSPDCL following interim orders from APERC, significant arrears remained.
In early 2023, both Vaayu and Vishwind issued preliminary termination notices citing continued payment defaults by APSPDCL.
Following a lack of response from APSPDCL, they formally terminated their PPAs and sought no-objection certificates to sell power through open access, leading to further petitions before APERC.
Tribunal’s Analysis
APTEL found that APSPDCL had repeatedly failed to meet its financial commitments, leading to significant arrears owed to Vaayu and Vishwind.
The Tribunal noted that these defaults constituted a breach of contract, justifying the termination actions taken by the generators.
It ruled that the generators had the right to terminate their PPAs due to APSPDCL&#8217;s failure to cure the defaults. It emphasized that subsequent payments made by APSPDCL could not retroactively rectify prior defaults.
The Tribunal confirmed that such defaults provided grounds for the generators to terminate their agreements.
APTEL mandated that APSPDCL issue  no-objection certificates to Vaayu and Vishwind, to sell their generated power through open access.
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APTEL Upholds Two Andhra Pradesh Wind Power Companies’ Right to Terminate PPAs

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					</table>Solar Energy Corporation of India (<a href="https://www.seci.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SECI</a>) has invited bids for designing, engineering, testing, and commissioning a 300 MW ground-mounted solar project at Ramagiri in Andhra Pradesh.
The scope of work includes operating and maintaining the solar project for five years after being commissioned.
The project must be commissioned within 12 months from the award notification date.
Bidders must furnish an Earnest Money Deposit of ₹89 million (~$1 million). They must pay a tender processing fee of ₹25,000 (~$305.4).
The last date to submit the bids is May 26, 2023, and the bids will be opened on the same day.
Bidders must submit the performance bank guarantee as specified in the tender document.
The successful bidder must procure solar inverters from Class I local suppliers. Class I local suppliers provide goods, services, or works with local content equal to or over 50%.
The bidder must have experience in executing engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of ground-mounted solar projects on a turnkey basis, including the design, supply of modules or inverters, installation, and commissioning of the grid-connected solar project of not less than 120 MW in the last seven years. The projects executed must have been operational for six years.
Also, the bidder must have successfully executed two grid-connected solar projects, each of 30 MW capacity or above, in the last seven years.
The bidder must have experience installing ground-mounted solar projects as a developer of grid-connected solar projects of at least 120 MW in the last seven years. They must also have executed two grid-connected solar projects of 30 MW each.
In the last ten years, the bidder must have executed an industrial project worth ₹7.95 billion (~$97 million) either as a developer or as an EPC contractor in diverse sectors, including power, steel, oil, and gas, among other process industries. The project should have been operational for a year.
The minimum average annual turnover of the bidder in the last three financial years should be ₹1.7 billion (~$22 million). This must be the individual company’s turnover and not that of any group of companies.
Per the last audited financial statement, the bidder should have a minimum working capital of ₹1.11 billion (~$13.6 million). If the bidder’s working capital is inadequate, the bidder should supplement this with a letter from their bank, having a net worth of not less than ₹5 billion (~$61.1 million).
Recently, Amp Energy India, ReNew Vikram Shakti, Hero Future Energies, and ACME Cleantech Solutions <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/amp-energy-renew-hero-2-gw-hybrid-tender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bagged</a> SECI’s tender for developing 1,200 MW of interstate transmission system-connected wind-solar hybrid power projects (tranche-VI) with energy storage and assured peak power supply across India.
Last month, SECI <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/seci-floats-2-gw-solar-projects-in-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> a tender for selecting solar power developers to set up 2 GW inter-state transmission system ISTS-connected solar projects (tranche XI) in India.

SECI Invites Bids for 300 MW Solar Project in Andhra Pradesh

<a href="http://www.jakson.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jakson Group</a> emerged as the winner in NTPC’s auction for the comprehensive operations and maintenance (O&amp;M) of a 250 MW solar project in Andhra Pradesh and a 5 MW solar project in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Jakson Group will monitor the site for preventive and corrective maintenance issues, including project performance and regular upkeep of various project components and equipment, warranty claims, spare parts inventory, and other onsite ground services.
NTPC had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ntpc-tender-maintenance-255-mw-solar-projects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> the tender for O&amp;M for the 250 MW solar project in Andhra Pradesh and a 5 MW solar project in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in February 2022.
The company said it will commence the operations and maintenance services on June 1, 2022, for the 250 MW Andhra project and from December 1, 2022, for the 5 MW Andaman project. The O&amp;M contract is for three years.
The 250 MW Ananthapuram Ultra Mega Solar Power Project is spread across 1298.27 acres at NP Kunta Solar Park in the Satya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh. The project was commissioned in May 2016. The 5 MW grid-connected solar project is covered over 25 acres at Garacharma in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar. The project was commissioned in April 2013.
Jakson Solar <a href="https://mercomindia.com/tata-power-solar-fourth-partner-sunsure-leading-rooftop-solar-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emerged</a> as one of the top solar rooftop solar companies in India in the calendar year 2021, according to Mercom’s recently released <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/mercoms-india-solar-market-leaderboard-2022-market-shares-and-profiles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Market Leaderboard 2022</a>.
Jakson Group recently <a href="https://mercomindia.com/jakson-wins-ntpcs-om-tender/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won</a> NTPC Limited’s auction for O&amp;M of the 260 MW solar project at the Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan. The company said it will commence the three-year operations and maintenance service on May 13, 2022.
Jakson Group was one of the winners in NTPC‘s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/lt-amara-raja-jakson-winners-bos-auction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">auction</a> for a balance of systems package for the 735 (3*245) MW Nokh solar project in Rajasthan. It quoted the lowest bid of ₹17.86 million (~$238,333) to provide a balance of systems package for the third block of 245 MW.
The company is present across the solar value chain, manufacturing solar modules, providing rooftop solar solutions, utility-scale EPC, or having company-owned IPPs. Jakson&#8217;s O&amp;M business has a strong presence in more than 16 states, and its portfolio has grown up to 1.6 GW in 2022.
According to Mercom’s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Tender Tracker</a>, NTPC has floated O&amp;M tenders for 930 MW solar power projects.

Jakson Wins NTPC’s O&M Tender for 255 MW of Solar Projects

In an important development, the Andhra Pradesh Green Energy Corporation Ltd (APGECL) has received over 1,454 acres of vacant land for setting up solar projects.
According to a government notification, the collector of the Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh awarded 1,454.06 acres of land to Andhra Pradesh Green Energy Corporation.
Background
In 2017, 2,395.98 acres of land was allotted free of cost to Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) in Prakasam district for setting up Donakonda Mega Industrial Hub.
However, in 2018, the collector had sought permission from the Andhra Pradesh government to transfer 1,454.06 acres of land from the earmarked land to APGECL to set up a solar project.
Now, the Andhra government has issued an order permitting allotment of the land to APGECL for the solar project.
According to Mercom’s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India Solar Project Tracker</a>, Andhra Pradesh has 3.5 GW of large-scale solar projects in operations, and approximately 1.3 GW of projects are under the development pipeline, as of June 2020.
In August 2020, the government of Andhra Pradesh <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-waives-stamp-duty-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issued</a> an order allowing the exemption of stamp duty and reduction in the registration fee for lands for the development of solar projects. The registration fee has been reduced to ₹1 ($0.01) on every ₹1,000 ($13.37) of the value of the document on land deeds entered by APGECL with landowners.
The state recently <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-pradesh-guidelines-solar-farmers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issued</a> an order with guidelines to implement its 10 GW solar power project program. The program aims to <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-pradesh-mega-solar-agricultural/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">provide</a> nine hours of free power during the day to farmers without increasing the financial burden on the state’s distribution companies. The program was originally <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-install-supply-free-solar-farmers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proposed</a> in February and <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-pradesh-mega-solar-agricultural/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">approved</a> in June.
In July, the state <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-pradesh-amends-agricultural-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">amended</a> the guidelines of the program to address cash flow issues. The state government, among other amendments, changed the tariff model for the program to provide for a levelized tariff structure for 25 years. It also lowered land lease rentals on government lands to ₹5 (~$0.06721) /acre. The government explained that this nominal rate would result in lower tariffs and lesser cash outflows for the government. The government would be revenue-neutral and not suffer any loss on account of charging nominal lease rent, the amendment added.
Mercom has previously written about how land is still the biggest impediment in large-scale solar development. Read the full report <a href="https://mercomindia.com/land-impediment-large-scale-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.
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Image credit: Ceinturion / CC BY-<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SA</a>

Andhra Pradesh Government Allots Over 1,454 Acres of Land to Set up Solar Projects

The <a href="https://www.ap.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andhra Pradesh</a> government has approved ₹29.84 billion (~$415.67 million) to distribution companies (DISCOMs) in the state towards the payment of 25% of their losses, allowing them to clear their power dues.
This is good news for developers who are operating in the state and struggling financially. The allowance comes under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) program, which aims to help the struggling state-run distribution companies by providing them the required financial assistance.
Of the approved amount, ₹21.99 billion (~$306.32 million) will go to central and state generating stations, and the rest will go to wind and solar generators for dues up to December 2019. Here is a breakup of power generators&#8217; dues to be cleared:
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Andhra-Pradesh-Breakup-of-Power-Generators-Dues-to-be-Cleared.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18030" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Andhra-Pradesh-Breakup-of-Power-Generators-Dues-to-be-Cleared.png" alt="Andhra Pradesh - Breakup of Power Generators' Dues to be Cleared" width="598" height="214" srcset="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Andhra-Pradesh-Breakup-of-Power-Generators-Dues-to-be-Cleared.png 598w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Andhra-Pradesh-Breakup-of-Power-Generators-Dues-to-be-Cleared-300x107.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 598px) 100vw, 598px" /></a>
Andhra Pradesh <a href="https://mercomindia.com/rk-singh-sheds-light-on-dispute-with-andhra-pradesh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has been in the spotlight</a> lately because of payment related issues. There has been a prolonged dispute between the state government and the Union government because of the state DISCOMs’ inability to pay for renewable energy for over a year. The state cited high solar and wind power prices as the reason for the delays, announcing that it would scrap all power purchase agreements for solar and wind tariffs signed during the previous government’s tenure, alleging corruption.
According to the most recent date on the Ministry of Power’s payment ratification and analysis portal called <a href="https://praapti.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PRAAPTI</a>, DISCOMs in Andhra Pradesh had outstanding dues amounting to ₹28.75 billion at the end of December 2019, with 1,175 overdue invoices.
Recently, the Andhra Pradesh High Court <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-high-court-discoms-wind-developers-two-weeks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">asked</a> the state’s distribution companies including, Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) and Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL), to clear the dues of wind developers within two weeks. The dues currently amount to ₹1.7 billion (~$24.3 million).
Earlier, Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/states-progress-uday-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that outstanding dues to power generators from distribution companies at the end of October 2019 stood at ₹844.45 billion (~$11.83 billion), up by ₹297.76 billion (~$4.17 billion) or 54% from the same period last year.

Andhra Pradesh Approves ₹29.84 Billion for DISCOMs to Clear Solar & Wind Power Dues

The National Solar Energy Federation of India (<a href="https://www.nsefi.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NSEFI</a>) has written a letter to the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (<a href="http://www.aperc.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">APERC</a>) asking it to withhold from a public hearing until the proposed amendment to the state’s forecasting, scheduling, and deviation settlement of solar and wind generation is made.
The federation stated that several renewable energy companies across the country had taken issue with the forecasting, scheduling, and deviation settlement of solar and wind generation regulations passed by their state’s electricity regulatory commissions. High courts have also passed interim orders not to take any coercive actions against these companies.
Similarly, companies in Andhra Pradesh have also filed petitions against the APERC contesting the regulation.
In one such case, the Supreme Court passed an order directing the Andhra Pradesh High Court that these issues should not be adjudicated by the state commissions, but rather by the state High Court.
The NSEFI explained that, accordingly, the validity of the regulations in question are under review by the High Court and that it has passed an interim order directing DISCOMs not to take any coercive action until the petitions are resolved.
In its letter to the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission, the federation requested it to withhold any further proceedings regarding this issue and the proposed public hearing until the High Court announces its verdict on the legal and constitutional validity of the regulations.
The Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh recently <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-proposes-to-raise-deviation-settlement-charges-renewable-projects/">issued</a> a notice to the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission seeking amendments to the existing regulations for forecasting, scheduling, and deviation settlement for variable renewable energy projects. It said that the Andhra Pradesh State Load Despatch Center (APSLDC) made a detailed report highlighting the difficulties they face in everyday operations because of the existing regulations. The distribution company (DISCOM) said that offering generation forecasts a day ahead daily has become challenging because of several factors.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh State Load Dispatch Center (APSLDC) has <a href="https://mercomindia.com/andhra-sldc-review-petition-against-posoco/">filed a review petition</a> before the state’s high court against Power System Operation Corporation Limited’s (POSOCO) appointment to look into the reasons behind the curtailment of renewable energy in the state, due to it being an independent central agency. The state high court in its order dated January 27, 2020, had asked the Power System Operation Limited to investigate the reasons behind the curtailment of renewable power in Andhra Pradesh, as reported earlier by <a href="https://mercomindia.com/posoco-examine-renewable-energy-curtailment-issue-andhra-pradesh/">Mercom</a>.
According to Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker/">India Solar Project Tracker</a>, Andhra Pradesh accounts for 3.4 GW of large-scale solar projects in operations, and approximately 1.7 GW of projects are under the development pipeline. According to the MNRE, Andhra Pradesh has 4.1 GW of wind power capacity (as of October 2019).

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