Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd, part of the Adani Group, has planned to undertake capital expenditure of Rs.16,603 crore for the period FY20 to FY30, the integrated power utility said in a recent investor presentation.
Of this total investment, around 70 per cent (or Rs.11,407 crore) will be in the power distribution business, denoted as “wires & retail” while the remaining 30 per cent (or Rs.5,196 crore) will go towards the generation and transmission business.
The total capex of Rs.11,407 crore in the wires & retail business primarily consists of replacement capex to improve reliability of existing infrastructure, AEML said.
AEML has also observed that historically MERC (Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission) has approved a lower number in its MTR (mid-term review) order but in its final order for that year, it matches the actual capitalization executed by AEML.
In FY20, capex of Rs.1,075 crore was approved in the recent MYT (multi-year tariff) order of MERC. However, the final capital expenditure incurred by AEML in FY20 was Rs.1,217 crore (inclusive of Rs.100 crore worth of work-in-progress). AEML expects it (the final capex) to be approved going forward.
The “wires” business of AEML covers electricity supply infrastructure spread over 400 sqkm of area in Mumbai, and the “retail” component includes supply of electricity to around 12 million consumers.
Some of the objectives that AEML plans to achieve during 2020-30 in its “retail” business are: real time load management solutions, smart metering scheme for all consumers, and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to provide for two-way communication system.
In the “wires” business, some objectives envisaged by AEML include replacement of 1,400 km of PILC (paper insulated lead covered) cable by XPLE (cross-linked polyethylene) cables and replacement of oil-type RMUs (ring main units) with dry-type RMUs.
To improve penetration of electricity supply, five new receiving stations per year have also been planned, during the period 2020-30. Plans also include setting up of compact substations (CSS).
Share of renewables
Currently, the share of renewable energy in the total electricity distributed by AEML is around 3 per cent. This is projected to increase to 30 per cent by 2023 and further to 50 per cent by 2025. AEML has tied up around 700 mw of solar and wind energy through long-term PPAs.
