Central Electricity Regulatory Commission New Delhi
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CENTRAL ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION NEW DELHI Petition No. 379/AT/2019 Coram: Shri P. K. Pujari, Chairperson Dr. M.K. Iyer, Member Shri I.S.Jha, Member Date of Order: 6th December, 2019 In the matter of: Petition under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003 for adoption of tariff for 1200 MW Wind Power Projects (Tranche-V) connected to the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) and selected through competitive bidding process as per the Guidelines issued by Ministry of Power on 8.12.2017. And In the matter of Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited D-3, 1st Floor, Wing-A, Prius Platinum Building District Centre, Saket, New Delhi-110 017 … Petitioner Vs. 1. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Block 14, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003. 2. Torrent Power Limited Torrent House Ashram Road Ahmedabad, Gujarat 3. Adani Green Energy Limited Adani House, Nr. Mithakali Six Roads, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat-380 009. 4. Netra Wind Private Limited (Project Company of Alfanar Company) B 504, Delphi Building, Orchard Avenue Sector No.3, Hiranandani Business Park, Hiranandani Garden, Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra- 400 076. 5. Sitac Kabini Renewables Private Limited Order in Petition No 379/AT/2019 Page 1 507-508, Ashoka Estate, 24 Barakhambha Road, New Delhi-110 001. 6. Ecoren Energy India Private Limited Plot No. 481, 4th Floor, 36th Square Road No. 36, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, Telengana-500 033. 7. BSES Rajdhani Power Limited BSES Bhawan, Nehru Place New Delhi-110 019. 8.BSES Yamuna Power Limited Shakti Kiran Building, Karkardooma, Delhi-110 092. 9. Haryana Power Purchase Centre Shakti Bhawan, Sector-6, Panchkula, Haryana 10. North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited 3rd Floor and 2nd Floor Vidyut Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna- 800 001. 11. South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited 3rd Floor and 2nd Floor Vidyut Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna- 800 001. 12. Government of Puducherry Goubert Avenue, Puducherry-605 001. ….Respondents The following were present: Shri M. G. Ramachandran, Sr. Advocate, SECI Shri Shubham Arya, Advocate, SECI Ms. Tanya Sareen, Advocate, SECI Ms. Poorva Saigal, Advocate, SECI ORDER The Petitioner, Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (hereinafter referred to as “SECI”), has filed the present Petition under Section 63 of the Electricity Act 2003 (hereinafter referred to as the „Act‟) for adoption of tariff for 1200 MW (Tranche-V) Wind Order in Petition No 379/AT/2019 Page 2 Power Projects connected to the Inter-State Transmission System (hereinafter referred to as „ISTS‟) and selected through competitive bidding process as per the Standard Bidding Guidelines dated 8.12.2017. The Petitioner has made the following Prayers: “(a) Admit the present Petition; (b) Adopt the tariff discovered in the competitive bid process for the individual power projects as stated in Table 1 at paragraph 6 (iv) above plus the trading margin of Rs.0.07 /kWh to be recovered from the Buying Utilities/Distribution Licensees on the terms and conditions contained in the PPAs with the Wind Power Developers being Respondents Nos 2 to 6 and the PSAs with the Buying Utilities/Distribution licensees being Respondent Nos. 7 to 11 herein; (c) Grant SECI an exemption from complying with the provisions of the Clause 5.1.1 (b) of the Guidelines as regards the intimation of the initiation of Bidding for the reasons mentioned in Paragraphs 16-18 hereinabove.” Submission of the Petitioner 2. The Petitioner has submitted that SECI issued Request for Selection (RfS) along with draft PPA and PSA documents for setting up of 1200 MW ISTS connected Wind Power Projects (Tranche V) as per “Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from the Grid Connected Wind Power Projects” (hereinafter referred to as „the Guidelines‟) and floated the same on 30.6.2018 on the portal of Telecommunication Consultant India Limited (TCIL). The Petitioner has submitted that e-Reverse auction of seven technically qualified bidders was conducted on 25.9.2017 on TCIL`s portal and the final tariff was arrived after completion of the same. The Petitioner has submitted that the Wind Power Projects are scheduled to be commissioned in the year 2020-21 and the projects would help the Buying Utilities/Discoms in meeting their RPO requirements apart from providing power at very economical rates. The Petitioner has submitted that SECI has agreed to sell entire 1190 MW (i.e cumulative awarded capacity/ accepted cumulative capacity by SECI) of wind Order in Petition No 379/AT/2019 Page 3 power to the Buying Utilities/ Discoms at the rate of Rs. 2.77/kWh plus trading margin of Rs. 0.07/kWh upon the commissioning of the above capacity. The pooled tariff discovered through competitive bid process is even lesser than the procurement cost of conventional power and therefore would be beneficial for the Distribution Licensees/Buying Utilities and the consumer at large. The Petitioner has submitted that there will be no preferential tariff sought within Section 86 (1) (e) of the Act. 3. The matter was heard on 19.11.2019 and notices were issued to the Respondents to file their replies. However, no reply has been filed by the Respondents Analysis and Decision 4. Section 63 of the Act provides as under: “Section 63. Determination of tariff by bidding process: Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 62, the Appropriate Commission shall adopt the tariff if such tariff has been determined through transparent process of bidding in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central Government” 5. In contrast to tariff determination under Section 62 of the Act, role of the Commission in case of tariff discovery through the competitive bidding process undertaken under Section 63 of the Act is essentially confined to adoption of tariff, on being satisfied that transparent process of bidding in accordance with the guidelines have been followed in determination of such tariff. 6. Ministry of Power, Government of India has notified the Guidelines under Section 63 of the Act vide Resolution No. 23/54/2017-R&R dated 8.12.2017.The salient features of the Guidelines are as under: Order in Petition No 379/AT/2019 Page 4 (a) The Guidelines are applicable for procurement of power by the Procurers from grid connected Wind Power Projects having, (a) individual size of 5 MW and above at one site with minimum bid capacity of 25 MW for intra-State projects; and (b) individual size of 50 MW and above at one site with minimum bid capacity of 50 MW for inter-State projects through tariff based competitive bidding to be conducted by Procurers which includes distribution licensees, or the Authorised Representative(s), or Intermediary Procurers. (b) Procurer shall prepare the bid documents in accordance with the Guidelines and obtain approval of the Appropriate Commission or alternatively, the Procurer can use the standard bid documents notified by the Ministry of Power. Approval of the Appropriate Commission would be necessary, if any deviation is proposed to be made in the Guidelines and standard bid documents. Intimation about the initiation of the bid process shall be sent by the Procurers to the Appropriate Commission. (c) Bids shall be designed in terms of total wind power capacity to be procured in MW. For intra-State projects, minimum bid shall be 25 MW with at least 5 MW project at one site and for inter-State projects, minimum bid shall be 50 MW at one site. Procurer may choose to specify the maximum capacity that can be allotted to a single bidder including its affiliates. (d) The Procurer has option to choose from two kinds of tariff based bidding (i) fixed tariff in Rs./kWh for 25 years or more, or (b) escalating tariff in Rs./kWh Order in Petition No 379/AT/2019 Page 5 with predefined quantum of annual escalations fixed in Rs./kWh and number of years from which such fixed escalation will be provided. (e) Draft PPA proposed to be entered into with the successful bidder and draft PSA, if applicable, shall be issued along with the RfS. PPA period shall be not less than 25 years from the date of Scheduled Commissioning Date. (f) Wind Power Generators will declare the annual CUF of its Project at the time of signing of PPA and will be allowed to revise the same once within first year of COD. The declared annual CUF shall in no case be less than 22%. (g) Procurer and Intermediary Procurer shall provide payment security to the Wind Power Generator through revolving Letter of Credit of an amount not less than one month average billing and Payment Security Fund for at least three months billing of all the projects. In addition, the Procurer and Intermediary Procurer may also choose to provide State Government Guarantee. (h) End Procurer shall provide payment security to the Intermediary Procurer through revolving LC of an amount not less than one month`s average billing from the project under consideration and State Government Guarantee. In addition, end Procurer may also choose to provide Payment Security Fund with three months bills of all the projects tied up with such fund. (i) The Procurer shall call the bids adopting a single stage bidding process to be conducted through electronic mode (e-bidding). The Procurers may adopt e- Reverse auction, if it so desires, e-procurement platforms with a successful track Order in Petition No 379/AT/2019 Page 6 record and with adequate safety, security and confidentiality features will be used. (j) RfS notice shall be issued in at least two national newspapers and on websites of the Procurer to provide wide publicity. Standard documentation to be provided in the RfS Stage shall include technical criteria, financial criteria, quantum of earnest money deposit and lock in requirements for the lead members of the consortium.