Tata Power to Procure Short-Term Power at Rs 7.60/unit in Maharashtra

Highlights :

* Tata Power in a petition said that it needed around 50 MW to 150 MW of additional power during the peak summer days for a short-term.

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), in its latest order, allowed the Tata Power Company Limited-Distribution (TPC-D), a power distribution company, to procure short-term power in Maharashtra at a weighted average of Rs 7.60 per unit.

The price was discovered through competitive bidding, which the discom floated for short-term power procurement from April 2023 to June 2023. In its petition before the MERC, the private discom said they were anticipating a shortfall of power availability from 50 Megawatt (MW) to 150 MW during the peak power period.

TPC-D issued the Request for Proposal on December 23, 2022. It received bids from two players- Dhariwal Infrastructure Limited (DIL) and Tata Power Trading Company Limited (TPTCL). However, the rates discovered through the bidding were higher than the prevailing rates in the market.

Thus, TPC-D negotiated with the bidders to submit a revised offer. However, only DIL came up with a revised proposal and proposed a weighted average tariff of Rs 7.60 per unit.

Thus, the TPC-D requested the MERC to approve the rates in the present petition. TPC-D told the Commission that it had tried all other possibilities, like procurement through power exchanges and other methods to find ways to procure cheaper power but failed. It thus requested the MERC to adopt the tariff of Rs 7.60 per unit for the short-term period.

"Further, the weighted tariff discovered through competitive bidding in the present Petition i.e Rs 7.60 per unit, shall act as ceiling tariff for procurement of short-term power through a competitive bidding process for FY 2023-24. Any tariff discovered below such ceiling shall be considered as deemed adopted as per provisions of competitive bidding guidelines notified by the Central Government for short-term power procurement," the order said.

As per Regulation 22 of Multi-Year Tariff Regulations, 2019, the Distribution Licensee may undertake additional power procurement during the year, over and above the power procurement plan for the control period approved by the Commission.