Transmission reforms will move apace with other overhaul measures in the power sector. This is necessary for the goal of 24×7 power and for coordinated development throughout the country. Changes in power procurement methods have made the reforms an urgent need. Thus, while earlier transmission lines were planned only in expectation of a proposed or an ongoing project, in present times, the situation is much more dynamic. Long-term PPAs may be cancelled and power can be procured from cheaper and distant plants. Power can be bought on exchanges at lower tariff and it may cause buyers to shift towards short-term transactions. Then, the feeds from Solar Developers with quick installations combined with uncertain availability from renewable resources make the transmission sector, a theatre of action.
The CERC had formed a committee on Transmission Planning, headed by Power System Expert Mata Prasad, to recommend power transmission reforms. This committee has now submitted its detailed report.
The committee has introduced the concept of General Access Network or GNA. This process has been recommended for transmission planning, to reduce the inadequacy issues of Inter-State-Transmission System (ISTS) substantially in 4 to 5 years.
The committee has called for a lot of statistical planning. For instance, it requires the Central Transmission Utility to plan transmission systems based on estimated capacity additions & renewable purchase obligations of each state. The committee wants CEA to create a central depository of generators and the filing of monthly and quarterly progress reports by Generators with this Depository. This, it believes will be crucial for transmission planning and also reduce problems of uncoordinated generation capacity additions. Also there are recommendations for promoting the power exchange market.
Already transmission projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore have been awarded to bidders last year and projects worth Rs 50,000 crore would be awarded in the remaining part of the current fiscal, based on tariff based bidding.
But while lot of synchronization is being done in infrastructure planning, for the tariff situation there is complete indiscipline. Two tenders have been floated for procurement of solar power almost at the same time. One is by Tamil Nadu Generation & Distribution Corporation Ltd (Tangedco) in Tamil Nadu and another by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for Rajasthan.
Tangedco is procuring 500 MW and it has capped the tariff at Rs 5.10 per unit. SECI is procuring 250 MW & 500 MW in two separate tenders, but in both these tenders SECI has capped the tariff at Rs 3.93 per unit. The tenders are for long-term (25 years) PPAs. Tangedco’s tender tariff is higher by Rs 1.17 per unit, which means the reference tariff of Tamil Nadu is higher by about Rs 2,434 crore calculated at 19 per cent efficiency (the prevalent technical standard). The tariff cap is important as bidders quote higher tariffs, if the cap is higher.
