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					</table><p>Solar Energy Corporation of India (<a href="https://www.seci.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SECI</a>) has invited bids for the selection of renewable energy developers for the supply of 1.5 GW firm and dispatchable power from Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS)-connected renewable energy projects under tariff-based competitive bidding.</p>
<p>Both land and connectivity will be under the scope of the renewable energy developer.</p>
<p>The last date for the submission of bids is September 15, 2023. Bids will be opened on September 20.</p>
<p>The bid processing fee is ₹1.5 million (~$18,228) + 18% GST for each project.</p>
<p>Bidders must submit an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) based on the total cumulative installed capacity they have committed. The formula for calculating the EMD is as follows:</p>
<p>EMD = [₹1,158,000 (~$14,072) x Rated Cumulative Installed Capacity of Solar component (MW) + ₹1,386,000 (~$16,842) x Rated cumulative Installed capacity of Wind component (MW) + ₹480,000 (~$5,832) x Rated Cumulative Installed Capacity of the Energy Storage System (MWh)].</p>
<p>The EMD must be submitted in the form of a bank guarantee and will be valid for 12 months.</p>
<p>Successful bidders must also provide a Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) as a security deposit. The PBG amount will be determined using this formula:</p>
<p>PBG= [₹2,900,000 (~$35,238) x Rated Installed Capacity of Solar component (MW) + ₹3,470,000 (~$42,164) x Rated Installed capacity of Wind component (MW) + ₹1,200,000 (~$14,581) x Energy Storage System (ESS) Capacity (MWh)].</p>
<p>For example, if the contracted capacity is 600 MW with the following installed capacities: Solar: 400 MW, Wind: 1,400 MW, and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS): 500 MWh, the applicable PBG amount will be ₹6.62 billion (~$80.4 million)</p>
<p>Bidders are required to submit the PBG before the Power Purchase Agreement is signed.</p>
<p>Bidders, along with their parent companies, affiliates, or any group company, must submit a single bid. The bid should offer a minimum cumulative contracted capacity of 50 MW and a maximum cumulative contracted capacity of 750 MW.</p>
<p>The contracted capacity must be quoted in multiples of 10 MW only.</p>
<p>The project must be designed to connect with the ISTS following the prevailing regulations set by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.</p>
<p>The connection to the grid and metering should adhere to the relevant grid code, grid connectivity standards, and regulations on communication systems for electricity transmission.</p>
<p>The minimum voltage level required for interconnection with the ISTS is 220 kV.</p>
<p>The developer will be responsible for arranging and bearing the cost of ISTS connectivity.</p>
<p>The power procured from these projects is provisioned to be sold to Punjab State Power Corporation and Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company.</p>
<p>SECI will act as the intermediary nodal agency for the procurement and sale of this power to the buying entities entirely on a back-to-back basis, based on due performance by the renewable energy developer as well as the buying entities.</p>
<p>Bidders must have a net worth equal to or greater than a specified amount, which is calculated based on the quoted installed capacity breakup. The net-worth requirement is determined using the formula:</p>
<p>Minimum Net-Worth requirement = [(₹11,580,000 (~$140,746) x Rated Installed Capacity of Solar PV component) + (₹13,860,000 (~$168,457) x Rated Installed Capacity of Wind Power component) + (₹4,800,000 (~$58,336) x Rated Installed Capacity of ESS component)]</p>
<p>Bidders must demonstrate net worth either as of the last day of the previous financial year 2022-23) or at least seven days before the bid submission deadline.</p>
<p>Additionally, they should have a minimum annual turnover of ₹19 million (~$ 230,932)/MW of the quoted contracted capacity.</p>
<p>Recently, SECI <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/seci-bids-supply-1-gw-solar-modules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invited</a> bids for manufacturing, testing, packaging, supplying, and transporting 1,000 MW (DC) of domestically manufactured solar modules using indigenous solar cells under the Central Public Sector Undertaking Program II (Tranche -III).</p>
<p>Earlier, SECI had <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/seci-invites-eoi-for-supply-of-1800-mw-of-solar-modules-under-dcr-category" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invited</a> expressions of interest for the supply of 1,800 MW (DC) of solar modules (including cells manufactured in India).</p>
<p>Subscribe to Mercom’s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Tender Tracker </a>to stay on top of real-time tender activity.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/gautamee-hazarika/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Gautamee Hazarika</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Picture1.jpg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Gautamee,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gautamee-hazarika/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gautamee.</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Picture1.jpg" width="102" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gautamee-hazarika/" rel="noopener">Gautamee</a> is a reporter at Mercom India. Prior to Mercom, Gautamee was working as a multimedia news journalist at ThePrint in New Delhi. She has received her Bachelors in English Honors and Masters in English Literature from St.Stephen&#8217;s College, University of Delhi.<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gautamee-hazarika/" rel="noopener">More articles from Gautamee</a></div>
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SECI Invites Bids for 1.5 GW of Power from ISTS-Connected Renewable Projects


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					</table><p>Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (<a href="https://www.guvnl.com/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GUVNL</a>) has invited bids to purchase power from 300 MW of grid-connected wind power projects (Phase-IV) with a greenshoe option of an additional 300 MW. These projects could be set up anywhere in the country.</p>
<p>The last date to submit the bids online is November 30, 2022. Bids will be opened the following day.</p>
<p>GUVNL will enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with successful bidders for 25 years from the project’s scheduled commercial operation date or full commissioning date, whichever is earlier.</p>
<p>The eligible bid capacity for intrastate projects will be a minimum of 25 MW, and for interstate projects will be a minimum of 50 MW.</p>
<p>Projects under construction, projects which are not yet commissioned, and projects already commissioned but do not have any long-term PPA with any agency and selling power on a short-term or merchant plant basis would be considered. The projects should not have been accepted under any other central or state programs or have any obligations toward existing buyers.</p>
<p>Bidders will have to submit ₹300,000 (~$3,646) plus 18% goods and services tax (GST) as the processing fee and ₹1 million (~$12,155)/MW of the quoted capacity as an earnest money deposit.</p>
<p>The successful bidder must furnish an amount equivalent to ₹2 million (~$24,310)/MW of the quoted capacity as a performance bank guarantee when signing the power purchase agreement (PPA).</p>
<p>The net worth of bidders as of the last date of the previous financial year should not be less than ₹12 million (~$145,860)/MW of the quoted capacity.</p>
<p>The bidder will be entirely responsible for acquiring the land required for setting up the project.</p>
<p>The project should be designed for interconnection with the state transmission utility or central transmission utility substation through a dedicated transmission line to deliver energy at the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO) periphery.</p>
<p>The successful bidders should declare their projects&#8217; annual capacity utilization factor (CUF) at the time of signing of PPA, and the same will be revised once within the first three years of the commercial operation date.</p>
<p>The declared annual CUF should, in no case, be less than 22%. The successful bidder will have to maintain generation to achieve annual CUF within + 20% and -20% of the declared CUF during the 25 years of the agreement.</p>
<p>Only type-certified wind turbine models listed in the Revised List of Models and Manufacturers (RLMM) prepared by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will be allowed.</p>
<p>Bidders should ensure pre-bid tie-up with not less than three manufacturers for the project&#8217;s design, engineering, supply, procurement, construction, and operation &amp; maintenance.</p>
<p>Any bidder from a country that shares a land border with India will be eligible to bid in this tender condition that they are registered with the competent authority.</p>
<p>In July this year, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation, Rajpur Renewables (EDF Renewables), Juniper Green Energy, Solarcraft Power India 3 (Blupine Energy), TEQ Green Power XII (O2 Power), ACME Pokharan Solar, and Project Twelve Renewable Power (Ayana Renewable Power), were <a href="https://mercomindia.com/lowest-tariff-discovered-guvnls-500-mw-wind-auction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> winners in GUVNL&#8217;s auction to purchase power from 500 MW of grid-connected wind power projects (Phase-III).</p>
<p>Subscribe to Mercom&#8217;s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Tender Tracker</a> to stay on top of tender activity in real time.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Rakesh Ranjan</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Rakesh Ranjan,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a></p>
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<p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="77" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Rakesh Ranjan</strong></a> is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Prior to joining Mercom, he worked in many roles as a business correspondent, assistant editor, senior content writer, and sub-editor with bcfocus.com, CIOReview/Silicon India, Verbinden Communication, and Bangalore Bias. Rakesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" rel="noopener noreferrer">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a>
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GUVNL Issues Tender for 300 MW of Wind Projects with Greenshoe Option

<p>Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (<a href="https://www.seci.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SECI</a>) disbursed a total of $17.3 million (~₹1.3 billion) to solar and wind developers in May 2020.</p>
<p>According to a statement released by SECI, it released $12.5 million (~₹937 million) for the purchase of solar and wind power and reimbursed $1.38 million (~₹104 million) for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) claims made by solar power developers. The beneficiary companies under the GST claims were Adani, Avaada, Tata Power, Phelan Energy, Azure Power, and ACME Solar.</p>
<p>Payment delays have been a cause of apprehension for solar developers in the country. Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-companies-still-waiting-gst-clarity-refunds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">previously reported</a> that the delay in GST reimbursement and lack of clarity is affecting solar project developers in India.</p>
<p>Besides this, SECI also settled $1.82 million (~₹136 million) under rooftop solar subsidy program to three recipients – Hero Future Energies, CleanMax Solar, and Silver Star Solar.</p>
<p>According to developers, SECI demonstrates a good credit history with a record of making timely payments to developers. SECI has been the implementing agency for many of the programs under the National Solar Mission. However, recently, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (<a href="https://www.ireda.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IREDA</a>) <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ireda-seci-implementing-agency-solar-projects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">replaced</a> SECI as the implementing agency for solar projects with Viability Gap funding Support (VGF) by Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSU) for self-use or use by government entities.</p>
<p>In March 2020, MNRE issued a <a href="https://mercomindia.com/gst-safeguard-duty-solar-mnre-seci-ntpc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">circular</a> stating that GST and Safeguard Duty compensation to solar project developers should be paid within 60 days. The circular by MNRE was addressed to SECI and NTPC, and it warned that if the compensation is not made within two months, a late payment surcharge may be imposed, or the payment can be made on an annual basis spread throughout the power purchase agreement (PPA) tenure.</p>
<p>In April 2020, due to the nationwide lockdown, SECI was unable to raise physical invoices for its buying utilities and requested all state distribution companies and agencies to allow submission of <a href="https://mercomindia.com/seci-discom-digital-invoices-coronavirus-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">invoices digitally</a> to make it feasible to release the payment to developers.</p>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://mercomindia.com/india-solar-market-update/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mercom webinar</a>, Jatindra Nath Swain, Chairman and Managing Director of the SECI, who participated as a speaker, said that the corporation has also done its part to help the industry amid the global pandemic. SECI reduced earnest money deposits (EMDs) and performance bank guarantees (PBGs) to make their projects more investor-friendly in these tough times. SECI has also been very timely with payments as far as their power purchase agreements are concerned. He also said that SECI has come up with a formula to address future “change in law” incidents in their PPAs more efficiently. It has also been dealing with cases of supply chain disruptions because of the pandemic on a case-to-case basis, he added.</p>
<p>Also, on the subject of reducing <a href="https://mercomindia.com/mnre-seci-address-indian-solar-industry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DISCOM risk</a>, the SECI chairman said that they are currently considering implementing a “Contract for Difference” (CFD) model wherein developers will be paid the difference if the discovered tariffs fall below a previously agreed upon “strike price,” from a centrally maintained fund by the state DISCOMs.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/sampath/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Sampath Krishna</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sampath-edited-1.png" alt="Sampath Krishna" />Sampath has been part of the Mercom India research and news team since the company’s inception. He currently oversees all data and research relating to news published on the MercomIndia.com platform. Sampath received his Bachelor’s of Commerce Degree from Kuvempu University and Post Graduate Diploma in Management, from Indira Gandhi National Open University. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/sampath/">More articles from Sampath Krishna.</a></p>
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SECI Disburses $12.5 Million for Purchase of Solar and Wind Power in May 2020

<p>The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (<a href="http://www.cercind.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CERC</a>) has approved the new national average power purchase cost (APPC) of ₹3.60 (~$0.051)/kWh for open access for FY 2019-20.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cerc-proposes-%E2%82%B93-60-kwh-as-national-average-power-purchase-cost-for-open-access/">May 2019</a>, the CERC had proposed setting the APPC at ₹3.60 (~$0.051)/kWh for open access for FY 2019-20. Further, the proposal was up for comments up to May 28, 2019. However, no comments were received from the stakeholder, and the proposed APPC of ₹3.60 (~$0.051)/kWh has been approved.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cerc-nappc-open-access-3-53/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">June 2018</a>, the CERC had set ₹3.53 (~$0.050)/kWh as the APPC for open access. This APPC was applicable during FY 2018-19. The APPC for <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cerc-sets-%e2%82%b93-48kwh-national-average-power-purchase-cost-open-access/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FY 2017-18</a> was ₹3.48 (~$0.0497)/kWh, and for FY 2016-17, it was ₹3.40 (~$0.0485)/kWh.</p>
<p>The commission in the petition:</p>
<p>“<em>Based on the tariff orders issued by the SERCs/JERCs for FY 2018-19, the APPC at the National level has been determined as </em>₹<em>3.60/kWh. This APPC shall be applicable during FY 2019-20 and until further orders for the purpose of deviation settlement in respect of the open access and captive wind and solar generators fulfilling the requirement of regional entities.”</em></p>
<p>The total cost of power purchase considered for the computation of APPC excludes the cost of generation or procurement from renewable energy sources and transmission charges. The exclusion of the cost of generation or procurement from renewable sources is in alignment with the objective of determining APPC, which is to determine the average cost of power from conventional sources of electricity.</p>
<p>The approved APPC at the national level was determined by calculating the average of APPC of all states and union territories, weighted by the volume of conventional power purchased by the respective state or union territory.</p>
<p>The CERC also finalized the amended regulations for open access in interstate transmission in <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cerc-final-amendment-interstate-ope-access/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">January 2019</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/shaurya/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Shaurya Bajaj</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="wp-image-13448 alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screenshot-2019-04-17-at-4.26.41-PM-e1556814659545.png" alt="" width="118" height="124" /><span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="color: #000000"><span>Shaurya is a staff reporter at MercomIndia.com with experience working in the Indian solar energy industry for the past four years in various roles. Prior to joining Mercom, Shaurya worked with a renewable energy developer and a consulting company. Shaurya holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. </span></span></span></p>
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Average Power Purchase Cost for Open Access Solar and Wind Projects Set At ₹3.60/kWh

<p>The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (<a href="http://www.tnerc.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TNERC</a>) has fixed ₹3.97 (~$0.0549)/kWh as the pooled cost of power purchase that the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (<a href="https://www.tangedco.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TANGEDCO</a>) will pay to the generators of non-conventional energy sources (NCES).</p>
<p>The cost is subject to a maximum of 75 percent of the preferential tariff that has been fixed by the TNERC for the category of NCES generators.</p>
<p>This implies that TANGEDCO has to pay either ₹3.97 (~$0.0549)/kWh or 75 percent of the preferential tariff (whichever is less) if it procures from renewable energy generators. This order has been in effect from April 1, 2018.</p>
<p>The pooled cost of power payable by TANGEDCO has fluctuated over the past three fiscal years. In FY 2015-16, the cost was set at ₹3.35 (~$0.051)/kWh, which then rose to ₹3.96 (~$0.060)/kWh in FY 2016-17, then <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-lowers-tangedcos-pooled-cost-power-purchases-%E2%82%B93-70kwh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">falling</a> to ₹3.70 (~$0.056)/kWh in the last fiscal year.</p>
<p>The new pooled cost of power purchase for TANGEDCO is ₹0.27 (~$0.0037)/kWh more than the pooled cost of power purchase fixed for the previous financial year.</p>
<p>When contacted about the spike in the pooled power purchase cost, a TNERC official said, “The pooled power purchase cost depends on all power drawn from all sources. This time around the number of PPAs for cheaper power sources like solar and wind were not signed as much as compared to the previous fiscal. Coal drawn power is not cheap. The cost of coal plants is increasing, and the amount of power drawn from them was more compared to other sources leading to a spike in the pooled power purchase cost.”</p>
<p>Last fiscal when the pooled power purchase cost had gone down the same TNERC official had said, “As has been happening in the past two years, the DISCOM is buying more of low-cost power (from solar wind farms and other sources) and entering into long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), thereby reducing cost and at the same time demand has not increased much.”</p>
<p>More wind and solar projects are the need of the hour in Tamil Nadu and the state has huge potential for both.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Saumy Prateek</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/saumy-edited-1.png" alt="Saumy Prateek" /> Saumy is a senior staff reporter with MercomIndia.com covering business and energy news since 2016. Prior to Mercom, Saumy was a copy editor at Thomson Reuters. Saumy earned his Bachelors Degree in Journalism &amp; Mass Communication from the Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/">More articles from Saumy Prateek.</a></p>
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Tamil Nadu Sets ₹3.97/kWh as Pooled Cost of Power for Renewables

<p>The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (<a href="http://www.cercind.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CERC</a>) has set the national average power purchase cost (APPC) at ₹3.53 (~$0.0518)/kWh for open access.  The CERC had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/national-average-power-purchase-cost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed</a> this national APPC in April 2018 and it was open for comments by stakeholders until May 2, 2018.</p>
<p>This APPC will apply during the financial year (FY) 2018-19 and until further order for deviation settlement with respect to open access are put in place.</p>
<p>The new APPC is ₹0.05 (~$0.00073)/kWh more than the previous APPC of <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cerc-sets-%E2%82%B93-48kwh-national-average-power-purchase-cost-open-access/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">₹3.48 (~$0.0511)/kWh</a> for FY 2017-18.</p>
<p>The settlement will be done at APPC for open access wind or solar sellers which are regional entities and are selling power under renewable energy certificate (REC) framework, as well as for captive projects where power purchase agreements (PPAs) do not exist.</p>
<p>The total cost of power purchase considered for computation of APPC excludes cost of generation or procurement from renewable energy sources and transmission charges.</p>
<p>Unlike the previous FY in which the APPC did not apply to the states of Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Delhi, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam, Kerala, and Rajasthan; in this FY, the APPC is uniform for all states and Union Territories (UTs).</p>
<p>Per CERC, 10,57,738.50 million units (MU) of power was procured from non-renewable energy generating sources by all states and UTs combined, with the average cost of non-renewable energy being ₹3.53 (~$0.0518)/kWh.</p>
<p>Like the previous FY, CERC again invited comments from stakeholders on the national APPC determination but received none.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Saumy Prateek</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/saumy-edited-1.png" alt="Saumy Prateek" /> Saumy is a senior staff reporter with MercomIndia.com covering business and energy news since 2016. Prior to Mercom, Saumy was a copy editor at Thomson Reuters. Saumy earned his Bachelors Degree in Journalism &amp; Mass Communication from the Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/">More articles from Saumy Prateek.</a></p>
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CERC Sets National Average Power Purchase Cost for Open Access at ₹3.53/kWh

<p>The Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) has fixed ₹4.16 (~$0.064)/kWh as the average power purchase cost (APPC) for the state’s distribution companies (DISCOMs) during financial year 2018-19.</p>
<p>The APPC does not include intra-state transmission costs. If the intra-state transmission costs were added, the APPC would rise to ₹4.45 (~$0.068)/kWh.</p>
<p>The APPC will apply to the two DISCOMs of the state, North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL).</p>
<p>The average cost of supply for both of the DISCOMS during FY 2018-19 was found to be ₹7.35 (~$0.11)/kWh. BERC fixed ₹7.38 (~$0.112)/kWh as the average billing rate for DISCOMs during FY 2018-19.</p>
<p>BERC believes that state DISCOMs need to focus on service quality and consumer satisfaction. Reducing Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&amp;C) losses is vital, but will require extra effort and BERC has proposed closely monitoring how DISCOMs approach this challenge during FY 2018-19.</p>
<p>The tariffs will become effective on April 1, 2018 and will remain in force until March 31, 2019, or until the next tariff order is issued by BERC.</p>
<p>In the tariff order, BERC also approved a combined projected demand of 29,399.30 million units (MUs) of electricity for the two DISCOMs.</p>
<p>Of the projected demand of 29,399.30 MUs, BERC has proposed that 19,546.77 MUs (66.49 percent) will be met by central generating stations. Another 9,184.92 MUs (31.24 percent) will be taken from state generating stations and other long- and medium-term Independent Power Producers (IPPs), and only 667.61 MUs (2.27 percent) will be drawn from renewable energy sources.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/cerc-generalized-tariff-renewables/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recently</a>, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) <a href="http://www.cercind.gov.in/2018/orders/02.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> a set of levelized generic tariffs for the purchase of electricity from a host of renewable power generation sources during financial year (FY) 2018-19.</p>
<p>BERC has also revised its Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) trajectory. Under the revised trajectory, DISCOMS and other obligated entities will have to fulfil an RPO target of 9.25 percent for FY 2018-19. This will include a solar RPO of 3.25 percent and a non-solar RPO 6 percent.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://mercomindia.com/bihar-draft-open-access-regulation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> previously by Mercom, BERC recently issued draft regulations pertaining to intra-state open access for 2018.</p>
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<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Saumy Prateek</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/saumy-edited-1.png" alt="Saumy Prateek" /> Saumy is a senior staff reporter with MercomIndia.com covering business and energy news since 2016. Prior to Mercom, Saumy was a copy editor at Thomson Reuters. Saumy earned his Bachelors Degree in Journalism &amp; Mass Communication from the Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/">More articles from Saumy Prateek.</a></p>
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