Regulator Directs Captive Solar Power Generator to Pay Transmission Charges
The Commission rejected the petitioner's plea for grant of net metering mechanism
January 24, 2023
The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) recently directed the Odisha Power Transmission Corporation (OPTCL) and Bharat Electronics (BEL) to finalize the contracted capacity for the transmission of power utilizing the transmission network of OPTCL for long-term access.
It directed the parties to amend the transmission capacity access agreement (TCAA) between them.
The state regulator added that BEL could not be exempted from paying under injection charges to GRIDCO if the power injected from its captive power project was less than what was scheduled.
Further, the Commission rejected BEL’s request to grant a net metering mechanism for its 7.5 MW solar captive power project.
The Commission noted that as per the existing net metering and bi-directional metering and their connectivity order, the upper limit of the installed capacity of the solar power project should be 500 kW to avail the benefit of net metering.
In contrast, the installed capacity of BEL’s captive power project was 7.5 MW. Hence the net metering facility was not available for the captive power project.
OPTCL and BEL had filed two separate petitions with the state Commission. OPTCL had sought directions to BEL for the payment of open access charges. BEL had requested the Commission to adjudicate the dispute on the ‘arbitrary, illegal levy and collection’ of various open access charges under the Open Access Regulations 2020.
Background
BEL has a solar captive power project of 7.5 MW capacity at the Ordnance factory, Badmala, in the Bolangir district of Odisha. BEL entered into a transmission capacity access agreement with OPTCL on August 7, 2018, per OERC Open Access Regulations 2005, to avail open access for its solar power to the ordnance factory for 25 years through the transmission network of OPTCL on payment of long-term open access charges.
OPTCL noted that the agreement nowhere provided that in the case the Open Access Regulations 2005 were repealed, BEL would be governed by the new regulations.
As per the Open Access Regulations 2020, OPTCL had to raise transmission bills to BEL based on its contracted capacity from November 2020.
In the absence of any declared contracted capacity by the captive power generator, OPTCL raised the transmission charge bills to BEL from November 2020, considering the contracted capacity as 7.35 MW for FY 2021, which was the maximum scheduled injection observed during FY 2020.
However, BEL protested this new billing method and suggested OPTCL to raise the transmission charges based on the scheduled generation or the actual wheeled units for the month and continue to pay the transmission charges based on the scheduled injection energy.
BEL submitted that the Commission enforced new Open Access Regulations 2020 by repealing the earlier Open Access Regulations 2005. Regulation 44 of the Open Access Regulations 2020 has a provision for non-applicability of the said regulations on existing open access customers to the intrastate transmission and distribution system where there is an existing agreement.
In light of the above, the levy of revised transmission charges by OPTCL is illegal and has no basis in law.
BEL added that owing to the lack of a banking facility, approximately 3 to 4 MU per annum was being injected by them into the state grid free of cost with undue enrichment of GRIDCO, which caused a loss of revenue.
GRIDCO initially agreed to buy the surplus solar power at ₹4.50 (~$0.055)/kWh for 25 years after the captive consumption by the ordnance factory but refused to purchase the excess solar power.
Further, the captive power generator stated that GRIDCO was levying Deviation Settlement Mechanism (DSM) charges on BEL, which was illegal since the Commission had not formulated any regulations for levying DSM charges.
Commission’s analysis
The Commission observed that the agreement states that the open access transaction between BEL and OPTCL should be governed per the provisions of Open Access Regulations, 2005.
However, per the Open Access Regulations 2020, the transmission charges should be payable based on the contracted capacity for long-term and medium-term open access customers.
Since the term ‘contracted capacity’ had neither been defined in the regulations nor the TCAA, OPTCL had claimed transmission charges based on the contracted capacity of 7.35 MW for FY 2021 and 5 MW for FY 2022 based on the maximum scheduled injection for the previous year and 1.814 MW for the FY 2023. BEL intimated OPTCL to consider a contracted capacity of 1.814 MW for FY 2023.
The Commission noted that it would be prudent to compute the transmission charges for open access transactions by BEL considering the 1.814 MW for FY 2021 and FY 2022. It directed both parties to finalize the contracted power transmission capacity utilizing the transmission network of OPTCL for long-term access and accordingly make amendments to their agreement.
OERC noted that even if it was found that GRIDCO adopted the rates of CERC’s DSM Regulations to impose penalty in case of lesser or higher injection into the grid, in the absence of separate DSM Regulations, the same could not be termed illegal.
BEL could convince GRIDCO to purchase surplus solar power from its captive power project through an agreement at a mutually agreed rate, the Commission said.
It further advised GRIDCO to explore the possibility of entering into PPA with BEL to purchase surplus power from its solar captive power project at a negotiated price, as it may require such power to meet its renewable purchase obligation in the future.
Earlier, OERC had issued the revised draft ‘Deviation, Settlement Mechanism, and Related Matters Regulations, 2022’ to ensure that users of the grid adhere to their schedule of drawal and injection of electricity for the security and stability of the grid.
Subscribe to Mercom’s real-time Regulatory Updates to ensure you don’t miss any critical updates from the renewable industry.
Get the most relevant India solar and clean energy news.
RECENT POSTS
LATEST HEADLINES
Maharashtra Approves Tariffs for 8.7 MW of Solar Power Under KUSUM Program
Mar 21, 2023
Brookfield to Aquire KKR’s 50% Stake in Renewable Developer X-Elio
Mar 21, 2023
NTPC’s Subsidiary Will Develop Renewable Projects for IndianOil Refineries
Mar 21, 2023
Constant Climate-Centric Funding Can Limit Global Temperature Under 1.5°C
Mar 21, 2023
India Voices Concern over Europe’s Carbon Tariff Measure at WTO
Mar 21, 2023
India added 2.5 GW of solar open access in the calendar year (CY) 2022, a year-over-year (YoY) increase of 92% from the 1.3 GW installed in CY 2021, according to the newly released 2022 Q4 & Annual Mercom India Solar Open Acce...
March 15, 2023
Solar
Kerala Issues Empanelment Tender for 100 MW of Solar ProjectsThe Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has invited bids to empanel solar developers to set up 100 MW of grid-connected rooftop and ground-mounted projects. Empanelled vendors also must furnish operation and maintenance (O&M...
March 20, 2023
Tenders and Auctions
Gujarat Invites Bids to Procure 500 MW of Wind Power with Greenshoe OptionGujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) has invited bids to procure power from 500 MW of grid-connected wind projects (Phase V) with a greenshoe option of an additional capacity of up to 500 MW. The last day to submit the bids online is ...
March 17, 2023
Rooftop
MSMEs Adopt Solar Readily If Savings on Power Bills Cover EMI Cost: InterviewSmall businesses are open to adopting rooftop solar if loan repayment is not an additional burden and is equal to their savings on electricity bills. Entities in the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment are increasingly mov...
March 17, 2023
Trending News
Tender & Auctions
Indian Oil Floats O&M Tender for 8 MW Solar Project in Ahmedabad
March 14, 2023
Technology
Researchers Find Solution to Manage Load in Solar PV & Storage Systems
February 28, 2023
February 27, 2023
February 24, 2023
January 17, 2023
Magazine
Grid
Sterlite Bags ISTS Project to Evacuate 20 GW of Renewables in Rajasthan
March 13, 2023
Latest News
The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has adopted tariffs of ₹3.28 (~$0.039)/kWh, ₹3.29 (~$0.039)/kWh, and ₹3.30 (~$0.040)/kWh for the procurement of 8.7 MW of solar power on a long-term basis. The Commission...
March 21, 2023
Global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) has agreed to sell 50% of its stake in renewable developer X-ELIO to its joint venture partner Brookfield Renewable. Financial details were not disclosed. Since KKR’s...
March 21, 2023
NTPC Limited’s wholly owned subsidiary, NGEL, has entered into a joint venture agreement with Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) to develop renewable energy projects that can meet round-the-clock power requirements to meet the...
March 21, 2023
Financial support from developed economies to developing nations which is a critical enabler of climate action has been inadequate, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report...
March 21, 2023
India has expressed concern about the carbon border measures proposed by the European Union (EU) at a recent meeting of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Committee on Trade and Environment. Presenting a paper on the increasing...
March 21, 2023
JSW Neo Energy (JSW Energy) and Greenko KA 01 IREP (Greenko) have won the Power Company of Karnataka’s (PCKL) auction to supply 1 GW of energy for 8 hours daily from pumped hydro storage projects providing continuous 5-hour...
March 21, 2023
Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy, the solar engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) arm of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, won NTPC’s tender for the balance of system (BOS) package to develop 1.2 GW (4*300 MW) of solar...
March 21, 2023
Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) has invited bids for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of an existing 8 MW solar power project at the LPG bottling plant at Sanand in Ahmedabad for five years. The last date to submit the bids...
March 21, 2023
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi (IIT Mandi) have claimed a breakthrough in producing metal oxide layers for use in advanced architecture silicon solar cells using a cost-effective method. This innovative...
March 21, 2023
The government has allowed NTPC to invest in its subsidiary, NTPC Green Energy (NGEL), beyond the limit allowed for a ‘maharatna’ central public sector enterprise (CPSE). The extant guidelines prescribe a ceiling of 30% of a...
March 21, 2023
Get the most relevant India solar and clean energy news.
POPULAR POSTS
Maharashtra Approves Tariffs for 8.7 MW of Solar Power Under KUSUM Program
Mar 21, 2023
Brookfield to Aquire KKR’s 50% Stake in Renewable Developer X-Elio
Mar 21, 2023
NTPC’s Subsidiary Will Develop Renewable Projects for IndianOil Refineries
Mar 21, 2023
Constant Climate-Centric Funding Can Limit Global Temperature Under 1.5°C
Mar 21, 2023
India Voices Concern over Europe’s Carbon Tariff Measure at WTO
Mar 21, 2023
JSW and Greenko Win Karnataka’s Bid for 1 GW of Pumped Storage Projects
Mar 21, 2023
Sterling and Wilson Bags BoS Package Tender for 1.2 GW Solar Projects
Mar 21, 2023