‘Increase energy generation as per design approved for plants’
*Issue of plants located in Ladakh to be discussed with LPDD
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 14: Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh has directed the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited to execute Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in respect of all the hydroelectric projects and submit the same for approval.
Moreover, the Commission has instructed for increasing energy generation from the hydroelectric projects strictly as per the design energy approved for the respective plants and sought a detailed report in this regard from the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (JKPDCL).
As per the official document available with EXCELSIOR, the Commission has observed that Power Purchase Agreements of most of the hydroelectric projects have expired and some agreements have not been executed at all.
Accordingly, the JERC has directed the JKPDCL to execute Power Purchase Agreements and submit the same before the Commission for approval. “The Corporation should complete the exercise and submit the compliance report”, the JERC has mentioned in the directives.
The JERC has further noticed that the actual generation reported by the JKPDCL for all hydroelectric projects is substantially lower than the design energy approved for the respective plants. “The reasons submitted by JKPDCL for lower generation are attributed to issues pertaining to technical, infrastructural, non-availability of grid, low voltage and low water availability in the river etc”, the Commission has observed.
The Commission has now directed JKPDCL to submit a comprehensive report in this regard elaborating the reasons for low energy generation from hydroelectric projects compared to design energy approved by the Commission. “The report should clearly indicate the efforts put in/to be put in by the Corporation to increase the energy generation from the projects”, read the document containing the directives of JERC.
As the plants located in Union Territory of Ladakh are currently being maintained by Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited, the Commission has directed the Corporation to discuss this issue with Ladakh Power Development Department (LPDD) and finalize the arrangement to be made for future operations of the hydroelectric projects and inform the Commission accordingly.
Observing that JKPDCL has submitted tariff petition after substantial delay despite continuous follow up by it, the JERC said that the tariff determination for financial year 2021-22 cannot be undertaken by the Commission due to delay by the petitioner. Accordingly, the JKPDCL has been directed to adhere to the timelines of regulatory filings in future and submit Business Plan and Multi Year Tariff petition before November 30, 2022 without any delay.
About Baglihar Stage-I and Stage-II, the JERC has directed the JKPDCL to immediately file the capital cost approval petition with details as directed by the Commission for both the stages, adding “without approved capital cost the final tariff for Baglihar Stage-II cannot be decided and only provisional tariff can be allowed to be charged by the petitioner”.
As JKPDCL mentioned in the petition about the requirement of Renovation and Modernization (R&M) of some old projects, the Commission has directed that a suitable proposal should be submitted for its consideration. “Similarly, if any, new site for project development is identified and the petitioner wants to implement the same, a proposal can be submitted before the Commission”, read the directives.
“The JKPDCL receives its income from JKPCL, the sole power purchasing authority. However, the actual expenses and revenue shows a wide gap as such the petitioner should submit the information on Government subsidy in its true-up petition and its annual accounts”, the JERC has directed, adding “the JKPDCL should explore the options for development of renewable energy projects particularly solar, land-based as well as roof-top available within the project sites”.
The JERC has also sought information on options available for black start for all power stations in the next tariff petition.
It is pertinent to mention here that black start is the ability of generation to restart parts of the power system to recover from a blackout. This entails isolated power stations being started individually and gradually reconnected to one another to form an interconnected system again.
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