CERC Order dated April 25, 2021 in Petition No. 91/MP/2020
Background facts
- The present Petition has been filed by the Petitioners which are Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd (RUMSL), Madhya Pradesh Power Management Co Ltd (MPPMCL) and West Central Railway (WCR) for seeking certain deviations from the provisions of the Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects issued by the Ministry of Power, Government of India on August 03, 2017 (Bidding Guidelines) under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
- In the present case, RUMSL is solar park developer with responsibility to carry out the bid process to select suitable solar power developers to develop, operate and maintain the solar plants at the parks to be developed. MPPMCL and WCR are the procurers of the power to be generated from the said solar plants.
- For the proper and timely execution and development of the projects, Petitioners suggested following agreements to be executed between Petitioners and Solar Park Developers (SPDs):
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- Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with SPDs and each of the procurers and RUMSL
- Implementation Support Agreement (ISA) between SPDs and RUMSL, setting out terms and conditions of use of internal evacuation infrastructure and associate facility to be constructed and commissioned by RUMSL
- Land Use Permission Agreement (LUPA) with New and Renewable Energy Department, Madhya Pradesh and RUMSL for grant of approval to SPDs to use the land provided by RUMSL for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the solar projects
- Coordination Agreement (CA) with the SPDs, RUMSL, and procurers for the purpose of scheduling of power between the procurers and for effective construction and operation of the solar parks to be provided by RUMSL to SPDs.
- In order to make the solar projects more viable and for obtaining competitive tariff from the bidders/SPDs during the bidding process, Petitioners have filed the present Petition under Clause 18 of the Bidding Guidelines before the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), for seeking approval for deviating from certain provisions of the Bidding Guidelines issued by Ministry of Power under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
Issue at hand
- Whether the deviations to the Bidding Guidelines as sought by the Petitioner are reasonable and tenable in terms of law?
Our viewpoint
CERC before allowing/disallowing the deviation as sought by the Petitioners to the Bidding Guidelines, has looked into the market economics and has allowed such deviations while keeping in mind the benefit of both the SPDs and procurers.
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