Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), in a recent order, approved the combined power purchase agreement (PPA) associated with a short-term power procurement of 14 mw by KRC Discoms.
MERC has approved the combined PPA signed between the supplier Kreate Energy (India) Pvt Ltd and three buyers — Mindspace Business Parks Pvt Ltd (MBPPL), Gigaplex Estate Pvt Ltd (GEPL) and KRC Infrastructure & Projects Pvt Ltd (KRCIPPL)—together referred to as KRC Discoms.
The PPA relates to 14 mw of round-the-clock (RTC) supply up to the Maharashtra state periphery for the period July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
The power purchase will be made at Rs.3.18 per kwh. The tariff was discovered through competitive bidding, and is better than market trends, the MERC order noted. Kreate Energy will be sourcing power from the surplus generation of Sikkim government, through inter-state trading.
A total of five bidders were in the fray—MSEDCL, Kreate Energy, Manikaran Power, GMR Energy Trading, and Arunachal Pradesh Power Corporation Pvt Ltd. The initial tariff quoted by the winner Kreate Energy was Rs.3.99 per kwh. Quotes of the other four ranged between Rs.3.86 per kwh and Rs.5.39 per kwh.
After the e-reverse auction, Kreate Energy’s quote of Rs.3.18 per kwh, was considered as the winning L1 quote. GMR Energy Trading came a close second with Rs.3.19 per kwh.
It may be noted that PPAs where tariffs are lower than those that MYT (multi-year tariff) orders, need not be ratified by MERC. The tariff of Rs.3.18 per kwh is much lower than the rate of Rs.3.92 per kwh approved by MERC in the respective MYT orders for power purchase in FY22, the MERC order observed.
The MERC order also noted observed that the three aforementioned procurers have entered into PPAs for their power procurement in the past, but this is the first time that a combined PPA has been worked out.
Of the total 14 mw, the three buyers—MBPPL, GEPL and KRCIPPL–will be purchasing 6.5 mw, 4.5 mw and 3 mw, respectively. These entities are, deemed distribution licensees in the IT &ITeS Special Economic Zones (SEZ) located at Kalwa Thane, Airoli Thane and Karadi Pune, respectively.
Featured photograph shows an illustrative image of an IT Zone in Maharashtra (Photo: www.panchshil.com)
