The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has accepted proposals by Haryana for transferring four solar photovoltaic power projects to the national solar mission.
The state had signed memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with four independent power producers (IPPs) for setting up power projects amounting to 10 mw, under the generation-based incentive scheme. With this, IPPs will benefit on the tariff front, which will be fixed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) on an yearly basis. The state utilities will also be able to buy power from NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) at much cheaper rates.
A senior official of Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (Hareda) told FE that the migration to national solar mission requires fulfilment of three conditions. These include getting consent from the IPPs for migrating from generation-based incentive scheme to national solar mission; the IPPs should be connected to the grid at a voltage level of 33 KV and above; and the state utilities that have signed MoUs for generation of 10 mw through solar power projects will buy power from NVVN rather than the IPPs.
He said, ?The state will act a facilitator in the migration of these projects and the IPPs will enter into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with NVVN directly. We have received the consent of three out of four IPPs and state utlities? consent is still pending. But the cases have been forwarded to the MNRE as only 150 mw capacity projects will be allowed to migrate to national solar mission till March.?
As per the draft guidelines of NTPC, fresh proposals will be invited after March from IPPs for setting up of solar power plants across the country.
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has fixed a tariff of Rs 18.42 per unit for 2009-10 under the national solar mission whereas earlier the tariff was fixed at Rs 15.96 per unit. For each mw installed capacity of solar power for which PPA is signed by NVVN, ministry of power shall allocate to NVVN an equivalent amount of capacity from the unallocated quota of NTPC coal based stations and NVVN will supply this bundled power to the distribution utilities.
?As per estimates one mw of solar power plant will be able to generate 16 lakh units of electricity per year and the conventional power plant of one mw capacity will generate 70 lakh units per year. So the utilities on an average basis will be able to buy power at a tariff of around Rs 5-5.5 per unit annually,? said the official.