Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat discoms mull over wind power tariff renegotiation

Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APSPDCL) has decided to renegotiate PPAs signed with wind project developers following the discovery of the lowest ever tariff of Rs 3.46 per unit in MNRE’s auction scheme in February 2017. Prior to the auction, the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) had set the feed-in tariff for wind power at Rs 4.80 per unit for 2016-17. Accordingly, the discom signed PPAs with several wind developers, most of which have since commenced work on their projects. However, later in a letter to APERC, APSPDCL requested the commission to not consider the PPAs still pending with it. In a separate development, the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has suggested that state discoms not buy wind power at a tariff over Rs 3.46 per unit. Prior to the auction, GERC had set a tariff of Rs 4.19 per kWh for wind projects in the state. Wind project developers with capacity aggregating 216 MW have been affected by the move as their cost economics were based on the GERC-determined tariff.