CEE April-June 2012

The bagasse prices for the new control period range from Rs 1,307 per mt to Rs 1,859 per mt, the station heat rate has been revised to 3,600 kcal per kWh while the O&M expenses for 2012-2013 have been finalized at Rs 1.6 million per MW, with an escalation rate of 5. 72 per cent per annum. The CERC has approved a capital cost of Rs 55 million per MW for setting up biomass gasifier power projects. The PLF for these plants has been revised to 85 per cent and the auxiliary power consumption factor to 10 per cent. The normative specific fuel consumption for biomass gasifier plants has been increased to 1.25 kg per kWh as against the 1.1 kg per kWh proposed in the draft regulations. The O&M expenses for these plants have been revised upwards toRs 4 million per MW. For biogas-based power plants, the approved capital cost for 2012 -13 has been revised to Rs 110 million per MW. Further, the CERC has approved a thresh old PLF of 90 per cent, auxiliary consumption of 12 per cent, O&M expenses of Rs 4 million per MW and specific fuel consumption of 3kg of substrate mix per kWh for these plants. The feedstock price during the first year of the control period has been set at Rs 990 per mt. SHP SHP projects are usually located in remote places and encounter several difficulties during implementation, resulting in higher project costs. Keeping this in mind, the CERC has increased the normative capital cost for such projects. The approved capital cost for SHP projects below 5 MW has been revised to Rs 60 million-Rs 77 million per MW as opposed to Rs 55 million - 70 million per MW in 2009 - 10. For projects of 5MW-25 MW capacity, it has been revised to Rs 55 million-Rs70 million per MW from the earlier Rs 50 million-Rs 63 million per MW. The capacity utilization factor (CUF) for SHP projects located in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the northeastern states is 45 per cent, while for projects in other states it is 30 percent. Solar For solar PV projects, the CERC revised the approved capital cost downwards to Rs 100 million per MW for 2012 -13 as compared toRs 170 million per MW for 2012 -13 as compared toRs 170 million per MW for 2009 -10. This is mainly because the prices of crystalline and thin-film modules (which currently range between $0.7 and $1 per watt) are expected to decline in the future. The revised cost also takes into consideration the additional expense on account of equipment degradation. The approved capital cost for solar thermal projects is the same as in 2009 -10, at Rs 130 million per MW. This is based on the engineering, procurement and construction contracts signed by developers under Phase I of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Many stakeholders had argued for lower CUFs for solar PV as only some states like Gujarat and Rajasthan have high insolation levels. However, as per the commission's study, the average CUF was over 19 per cent at more than 80 per cent locations for solar PV plants based on thin-film technology and at 50 per cent locations for solar PV plants based on crystalline technology. Thus, the regulator has retained the CUF for solar PV plants at 19 per cent. Based on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's analysis of the projected incident solar irradiation data, the commission has approved a CUF of 23 per cent for thermal technologies. The approved O&M expenses for solar PV and solar thermal plants for the first year of operation are Rs 1.1 million per MW and Rs 1.5 million per MW respectively. Other provisions As per the current regulations, developers are required to share half of the Clean Development Mechanism (COM) benefits with the local power discom. However, these benefits are applicable only after the sale proceeds from clean energy certified emission reductions are received by the project developer and not from the project's commissioning date. While defining COM benefit sharing, the commission took into account tariff policy stipulations, the recommendations in the Forum of Regulators' report on Policies for Renewable Energy and similar provisions made in the tariff regulations for conventional power. Under the latest regulations, biomass-based power plants with an installed capacity of 10 MW and above, and non-fossil fuel-based cogeneration projects are subject to scheduling and dispatch codes as specified under the Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC), 2010 and the Unscheduled Interchange and Related Matters Regulations, 2009. In addition, wind power plants (with total capacity of 10 MW and above) as well as solar power plants (with a capacity of 5 MW and above) connected to a 33 kV network are also subject to the regulations under the IEGC code. All other renewable energy projects are treated as "must run" power plants and are not subject to "merit order dispatch" principles. Courtesy: Power Line, May 2012, Pp 48 - 49. 42 (