The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has extended the scheduled commissioning date (SCOD) for a 14 MW municipal solid waste (MSW)-based power project in Agra.

It also directed the involved parties – Spaak Bresson Private Limited and Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) – to get approval for the supplemental power purchase agreement (SPPA) at least one month before the plant is commissioned.

Background: 

Spaak Bresson had filed a petition with the UPERC seeking approval for its amended PPA to purchase 14 MW of power from an MSW project in Agra. The generating company could not commission the power project by the scheduled commissioning date and sought a one-year extension until February 2020.

The company further sought for the UPPCL to extend the SCOD of the project by 18 months to August 2021 since it was not able to acquire a no objections certificate from the Taz Trapazium Zone Authority (TTZ). The UPPCL approved both the SCOD extension requests and signed an SPPA with Spaak Bresson.

According to the SPPA, the power generation project is scheduled to be commissioned by August 2021 under the condition that the tariff for the project for the first year would be ₹6.9 (~$0.093)/kWh. The tariff for the subsequent years would be determined as per the Commission’s Captive and Renewable Energy Generating Plants Regulations, 2019.

Commission’s Stance: 

Upon analysis, the Commission said that the project had not received consent to be established, and it seemed unlikely for it to be commissioned by August 2021. It cited a provision in the National Tariff Policy, 2016, which mandated distribution licensees to buy 100% of the power produced by waste-to-energy projects in the state. It subsequently allowed for the SCOD of the project to be extended.

However, it said that even though the parties have agreed to a tariff of ₹6.9 (~$0.093)/kWh, the tariff for the supply of power to UPPCL can only be determined once the project is commissioned. It rejected the petitioner’s request for approving the tariff, given that TTZ and other clearances were not made available. It directed both parties to get the clearances and approach the commission for SPPA approval at least one month before the project is commissioned.

According to Mercom India’s Q3 2020 India Solar Market Update, about 8% of Uttar Pradesh’s power is generated from Biomass and Bagasse-based sources.

In June 2020, the UPERC had directed the UPPCL and Ecogreen Energy Lucknow to come up with a firm agreement for the amended power purchase agreement for a 13.5 MW municipal solid waste-based power project.

In 2019, the Commission had approved the power purchase agreement signed between UPPCL and Accord Hydroair (Pikhuwa) Private Limited. The PPA was signed between UPPCL and Accord Hydroair in April 2018 for the purchase of power produced from MSW-based 9 MW of projects at Pipalheda village and 5.5 MW of project at Phikuwa village.