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BSES plans to cut off power purchase from 6 plants outside Capital
After exiting the power purchase agreement (PPA) with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for the Dadri-1 plant, the two BSES distribution companies (discoms) in Delhi are now looking at giving up the electricity purchased from at least six more power plants located outside the national capital,the Reliance Infrastructure-led BSES said on Sunday
After exiting the power purchase agreement (PPA) with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for the Dadri-1 plant, the two BSES distribution companies (discoms) in Delhi are now looking at giving up the electricity purchased from at least six more power plants located outside the national capital,the Reliance Infrastructure-led BSES said on Sunday.
“Apart from Dadri-I, BSES discoms in Delhi have initiated the process with the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission for exiting the PPAs with the remaining power plants in this category. The PPA with five of these plants -- Unchahar-1, Farakka, Dadri 1, Auriya gas, and Anta -- has already crossed its shelf life of 25 years. The Kahakgaon -I plant will attain its shelf life in August, while the PPA with the Dadri plant will expire in April next year,” said a discom official on the condition of anonymity.
The move comes in the wake of the Central Electricity Regulatory Authority allowing BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) to exit PPAs with NTPC’s Dadri-1 power plant, which completed 25 years of service on November 30 last year.
“The seven power stations are supplying expensive power, above ₹6 per unit, to the BSES discoms. These power plants supply around 830 megawatt (MW) of power to BSES,” said the official.
When asked about how the two discoms - -BRPL and BYPL, which supply power to around 4.5 million consumers in Delhi--will meet the growing power demand of the city, the official said it will resort to renewable sources of energy. “Replacing the power supply we get from these plants with substantially cheaper green power, available at around ₹2.50 per unit, will help us save around ₹800 crore annually and ₹20,000 crore over a period of 25 years. There will be no power shortage in Delhi even if we give up on electricity from these plants,” said a second BSES official.
This year, the highest peak power demand in the Capital touched 7,323 MW on July 2. The city’s all-time peak demand is 7,409 MW recorded on July 2, 2019.
“It is true that the substantial difference in the prices of power will help in neutralising cost increase by absorbing the impact of inflation and other factors, including the cost of coal and gas, and will also ease the pressure on future tariff hikes,” a senior official in the power department said.
Besides, the savings may also help in creating headroom for recovery of the past revenue gap (regulatory assets). Due to non-cost reflective tariffs, revenue gaps (regulatory assets) of the Delhi discoms have reached ₹51,646 crore as of March 31, 2020, said the official.
