E-Paper
PSPCL serves notice to 4 power plants to scrap PPAs
The plants that have been served notices by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited include are Damodar Valley Corporation’s Durgapur (200MW share), Raghunathpur (300MW share), Bokaro (200MW share) and Meja Urja Power Project (85MW share)
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on Wednesday served notice of termination of power purchase agreements (PPAs) to four private power generating plants with effect from October 31.
The plants that have been served notices are Damodar Valley Corporation’s Durgapur (200MW share), Raghunathpur (300MW share), Bokaro (200MW share) and Meja Urja Power Project (85MW share).
Till mid-June, the PSPCL was defending the PPAs by filing petitions before the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC). The decision came following the PSERC ruling saying that power is costly from generating stations of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), Kolkata, Pragati Power Corporation Limited and Meja Urja Nigam Power Private Limited, aggregating to 885MW.
PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) A Venu Prasad said the PSPCL has served notice to four power generating plants saying that it won’t buy electricity from October 31.
The PSPCL notice says that the PPAs are not approved by the PSERC. “The PSPCL will not be in position to procure power from the above mentioned generating stations beyond October 31, 2021, and the PPA shall stand cancelled and terminated for all intended purposes,” the notice read.
The PSERC had in September pulled up the PSPCL for purchasing power at high cost from some power generators, saying it was against the interest of consumers.
The PSPCL’s proposal of procurement of 885MW of power on long-term basis from Meja, Pragati-III and DVC’s Raghunathpur, Durgapur & Bokaro stations at ₹5.53, ₹4.82, ₹4.61, ₹4.44 and ₹4.39 per unit, respectively, would not be an economically viable proposition, particularly so, when much cheaper power is available in the market, read PSERC ruling.
The PSERC said that the PSPCL should buy power at not more than ₹3 per unit, including fixed and variable cost.
