Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has adopted the tariff for the Bhadla III interstate transmission system scheme (ISTS) in Rajasthan.
In a recent order, CERC said that it has approved and adopted the transmission charges (tariff) of Rs.2124.08 million, based on the recommendation of the bid evaluation committee for the ISTS scheme officially termed as: “Transmission System for evacuation of power from REZ in Rajasthan (20GW) under Phase-III Part B1.”
The scheme housed under project SPV “Bhadla III Transmission Ltd” was awarded to Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) mechanism.
After 31 rounds during the e-reverse auction, PGCIL was declared as the successful bidder with a bid of Rs.2124.08 million being the annual transmission charges. Other contenders in the final race were Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd, Sterlite Power and Tata Power.
PGCIL acquired the project SPV from bid process coordinator PFC Consulting Ltd on September 27, 2023 and subsequently renamed it to “Powergrid Bhadla III Transmission Ltd” on November 20, 2023.
The Bhadla III project, among several other elements, entails the construction of the 2×1500 MVA, 765/400kV and 3×500 MVA 400/220kV Bhadla-III pooling station along with 2×330 MVAr (765kV) bus reactor & 2×125 MVAr (420kV) bus reactor, in Rajasthan. The project is scheduled for completion within 18 months of SPV transfer, which is by March 26, 2025.
The project SPV has also approached CERC to seek interstate transmission licence for the said project. To this effect, CERC has directed Powergrid Bhadla III Transmission Ltd to issue a public notice to invite suggestions/objections to the grant of transmission licence, and file them before CERC by February 15, 2024.
Transmission licences
In independent developments, CERC has granted interstate transmission licence to two ISTS schemes housed under “Fatehgarh III Transmission Ltd” and “Fatehgarh IV Transmission Ltd.” Both these projects were awarded to Apraava Energy, under the TBCB route.
While Fatehgarh III would be responsible for the scheme, “Transmission system for evacuation of power from REZ in Rajasthan (20 GW) under Phase III –Part A3,” Fatehgarh IV would be entrusted with “Transmission system for evacuation of power from REZ in Rajasthan (20 GW) under Phase III –Part A1”
In August 2023, Apraava Energy won these two projects that marked the company’s entry in the greenfield power transmission development space. In November 2023, as reported by T&D India, Apraava Energy was in the process of securing transmission licences for these two schemes.
Also read: CERC Approves Revised Transmission Licence For Khavda II-D RTM Project
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