Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission's nod to buy 500 MW, but only from Apr to Oct

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, April 28

The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has approved the purchase of 500 MW power from M/s RKM Powergen Pvt Ltd and M/s MB Power Madhya Pradesh Pvt Ltd, but only from April to October (for three years) each year.

Maximum Demand

It is from April to October each year that the demand for power in the state is the highest. For the rest of the year, November to March, there is surplus power and even the generators with low variable costs are backed down. Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission

The Haryana Power Purchase Centre (HPPC) was, however, seeking the purchase round the clock from April 2022 to April 2025.

The Power Department is expected to file a review petition in this regard.

Meanwhile, the HERC has pulled up the HPPC for not taking steps to prevent the current shortage and approaching it for the approval of source and tariff at the eleventh hour.

A bench, comprising Chairman HERC RK Pachnanda and Member Naresh Sardana, in its order dated April 27, observed that “it is the duty of the HPPC/discoms to continuously monitor and assess the demand and supply position of electricity and keep taking required action/steps at regular intervals to avoid any sharp mismatch”. “However, the discoms for quite some time now were having surplus power resulting in stranded power purchase agreements( PPAs) and paying fixed charges, wherever applicable, without drawing the entire contracted capacity,” the Commission added.

The HPPC had approached the Commission for the approval of 350 MW from RKM Powergen Pvt Ltd at Rs 5.75 per Kwh and 150 MW from MB Power Madhya Pradesh Ltd at Rs 5.7 per KWh.

The Commission said that while on the one hand, the discoms were pleading urgency in seeking approval for power procurement, on the other hand, on four different occasions, the HPPC/discoms approached them, seeking the approval of source and tariff “at the eleventh hour for urgent disposal of the matter”.

The HPPC has submitted before the Commission that there is an acute shortage of power arising out of the non-availability of 1,424 MW of power from Adani Power Limited (Mundra), 380 MW from CGPL, Mundra, 432 MW from the gas-based plant of Faridabad, and 600 MW from Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Plant Unit 2 (Hisar). Besides, it added that there was an acute shortage of coal supply to the power plants, including imported coal, and further, the cost of imported coal had increased manifold.

Regarding the disposal of the proposed power between November to March, as the power proposed to be procured is round the clock for three years, the HPPC replied that the surplus power during the winter months would be banked. “It is commercially imprudent for discoms not to back down expensive power source (like in the instant case). Rather the Discoms should back down such expensive power and instead bank cheaper power available from existing cheaper power sources,” said the Commission.