Forum of Regulators For-News: Issue No. 2
Forum of Regulators For-News: Issue No. 2
Chairperson's Message
1|P a g e
FORUM OF REGULATORS
FOR Meetings
60th FOR meeting was held on 23rdJune 2017 in New Delhi. Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon‟ble
Minister of State (I/C) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines graced
the occasion and launched the “Weather Portal for Power System Operation”, “Merit
Order Despatch Portal” and released the POSOCO /FOLD report on “Operational
Analysis of Optimization of Hydro Resources”. Issues related to “Simplification of Tariff
Categories”,“Tariff Rationalization” and definition of RPO, Merit order Despatch were
also discussed.
59th FOR Meeting was held on 21st April 2017 in Guwahati, Assam issue included
discussion on included Renewable Energy Generators –Data Communication System,
Demand Pattern Analysis, Roof-top Solar installation and FOR Working Group Report
on Load Based Connection charges.
58th FOR Meeting was held on 27th February, 2017 in New Delhi. In the meeting,
proposal of Plan Assistance for the next 5 Year Plan Period, issues related to Promotion
of digital payments, CERC Staff Papers on Energy Storage and Open Access Registry
and Implementation of ESCerts were discussed.
2|P a g e
FORUM OF REGULATORS
Regulations at a Glance
CERC Regulations
3|P a g e
FORUM OF REGULATORS
5th Annual Integrated Ratings of Discoms has been issued by the Ministry of Power
Ministry of Power in May, 2017 issued Annual Integrated Ratings of Discoms. Four discoms of Gujarat
topped the rankings for the fifth year. Uttarakhand Power Corporation, which has made continuous
improvements in curbing transmission losses and has a collection efficiency of 107.8 % with no subsidy from
the state government, has moved to the top slot alongside the Gujarat utilities. The rating methodology was
developed by the Power Ministry in 2012 and covers only state-owned power distribution utilities.The Uttar
Pradesh utilities, which have piled up ` 54,000 crore in debts, trail utilities of Rajasthan, which have debts of
` 84,000 crore. Jodhpur VidyutVitaran Nigam is in B grade and the other two, the ones in Ajmer and Jaipur,
are in C grade.
Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued the Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive
Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects. The Government
has notified these Guidelines on 3rd August, 2017
These Guidelines have been issued under the provisions of Section 63 of the Electricity Act, 2003 for long
term procurement of electricity by the „Procurers‟ [the distribution licensees, or the Authorized
Representative(s), or an Intermediary Procurer] from grid-connected Solar PV Power Projects („Projects‟),
having size of 5 MW and above, through competitive bidding.
The “Must-run” status for solar projects has been stressed upon. Generation Compensation provided for
following off-take constraints
a) Back-down - Minimum Generation Compensation = 50% of [(Average Generation per hour during
the month) × (number of backdown hours during the month) × PPA Tariff
b) Grid unavailability - Compensation by way of Procurement of Excess Generation / Outright
Compensation
Minimum PPA tenure has been kept at 25 years. Unilateral termination or amendment of PPA is not allowed.
Bid Package: The bids will be designed in terms of a package. The minimum size of a package should be 50
MW, in order to have economies of scale.
Change in Law provision, effective from the date of bid submission and covering any change in law/Tax rate
which has a direct effect on the Project (and not just taxes made applicable for supply of power) has been
provided.
Early commissioning and part commissioning have not only been allowed, but incentivised, by way of
allowing the PPA for a minimum 25 years from the Scheduled Commissioning Date.
Bids have been allowed in both Power (MW) and Energy (kWh) terms. Also, e-bidding has been emphasised
to improve transparency.
Bidding Parameters: For procurement of electricity, the Procurer may opt for either 'Tariff' as Bidding
Parameter or „Viability Gap Funding (VGF)' as Bidding Parameter.
On January 17, 2017, the Ministry of Power notified the Guidelines for procurement of electricity for medium
term from power stations set up on Finance, Own and Operate basis. The application of these Guidelines is
restricted to projects for which power is procured in accordance with an agreement for procurement of power
for a period between one and five years with a provision for extension of this period upto 25% of the initial
contract period of one year, whichever is lower. Further, the tariff determined through the electronic bidding
process through these Guidelines shall be adopted by the Appropriate Commission in pursuance of the
provisions of Section 63 of Electricity Act 2003.
4|P a g e
FORUM OF REGULATORS
CEA Related
Central Electricity Authority (CEA) published the Draft National Electricity Plan (NEP)
The Draft National Electricity Plan (Vol-I: Generation & Vol-II: Transmission) has been
prepared by CEA. The Draft covers a review of the 12th Plan, plan for 2017-2022 in detail along
with details for RE integration and a perspective for the period beyond 2022. While preparing the
NEP, tentative demands for 2021-20122, as part of working of 19th EPS have been taken into
consideration.
A key highlight of this draft plan is – no coal-based capacity addition is required to meet the
country‟s power demand by 2027. It is also expected that the share of non-fossil (hydro, nuclear,
and renewable energy sources) based capacity will reach 46.8 percent by 2021-22, and will
further increase to 56.5 percent by the end of 2026-27; as compared to 30 percent at present.
MNRE Related
Draft Quality Control Solar Photovoltaic Systems, Devices and Components Goods Order 2017
MNRE has published an Order for quality control, testing and registration of solar photovoltaic systems,
devices, components and goods under section 10 of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 (63 of
1986) and in pursuance of clause (fa) of rule 13 of the Bureau of Indian Standards Rules, 1987. It is
published on WTO Website for comments of WTO Members
FOR Related
Cabinet approves MoU between Forum of Regulators and the National Association of
Regulatory Utility Commission, USA
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Forum of Regulators (FOR) and the National
Association of Regulatory Utility Commission (NARUC) in the area of large-scale Grid Integration of
Renewable Energy has been approved by the Union Cabinet on 31st March 2017. The MOU has since,
been signed on 10.08.2017.
The objective of these regulations is to maintain grid discipline and grid security as envisaged under
the Grid Code through the commercial mechanism for Deviation Settlement through drawal and
injection of electricity by the users of the grid. These regulations shall be applicable to Seller(s) and
Buyer(s) involved in the transactions facilitated through short-term open access or medium-term open
access or long-term access in intra-state transmission or distribution of electricity (including inter-state
wheeling of power), as the case may be. These Regulations aim to govern the functioning of the
various State Entities in a way that discipline is maintained with regards to the injection and drawal of
energy by such State Entities and the reliability and integrity of power system is maintained.
5|P a g e
FORUM OF REGULATORS
Technical analysis shows minimal impact of charging on the distribution grid. In the context of Electricity Act
2003 (The Act) and its provisions, the following observations are made:
1. As per The Act, the provision of public EV charging service to the users would fall under the jurisdiction
of a distribution licensee,
2. Specific amendments to the Act can be made, allowing EV charging businesses to resell the electricity
without specific licensing arrangements,
3. In the current legal provisions, following three business models are feasible, which are detailed in the
report:
a. Distribution Licensee owned EV charging infrastructure,
b. Distribution Licensee Franchised EV charging infrastructure, and
c. Privately-owned battery swapping stations
Further, the report estimates the Tariff Impact of the EV charging infrastructure, if socialized to the entire
consumer base or the EV consumers only. The report recommends creating a separate category of tariff, with
due regard to time-of-the-day variations. A sample franchise agreement between a Discom and a firm for
investment in charging infrastructure has also been provided.
Forum of Regulators
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: Contents of this Newsletter are prepared taking references from various resources available in public domain.
The contents of the Newsletter may be considered as indicative references only and respective organizations may be contacted
for accuracy of data or information. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the Forum of Regulators or its
Member Organizations. The Forum of Regulators does not guarantee the accuracy of data or information included in this
publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use.
6|P a g e