Through very recent orders, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has granted transmission licence to two interstate transmission system (ISTS) schemes, housed under Pachora Power Transmission Ltd and Halvad Transmission Ltd.
In the case of Halvad Transmission, the transmission licence is final while for the Pachora project, it is subject to no objections received to a public notice that the developer, GR Infraprojects Ltd, is expected to issue. Objections or suggestions need to be placed before CERC by June 11, 2024, following which the commission will take up the matter for next hearing on June 13, 2024.
Pachora Power Transmission Ltd
GR Infraprojects Ltd won the ISTS scheme known as “Transmission system for evacuation of power from RE projects in Rajgarh (1,000 mw) SEZ in Madhya Pradesh-Phase II” under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) route, following the bidding process initiated by bid process coordinator REC Power Development & Consultancy Ltd (RECPDCL) in July 2023.
The project SPV “Pachora Power Transmission Ltd” was formally acquired by GR Infraprojects Ltd on February 14, 2024. GR Infraprojects quoted the winning tariff of Rs.419.74 million at the end of the e-reverse auction (eRA), getting the better of three other contenders – India Grid Trust (IndiGrid), Torrent Power and Apraava Energy.
Eight bidders were in the fray for the project but only the aforementioned four qualified for participating in the eRA. Those that did not make it included Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, Sterlite Power, Adani Energy Solutions and Montecarlo Ltd.
Interestingly, IndiGrid was L1 in the initial stage with a quote of Rs.442.50 million while GR Infraprojects, with a quote of Rs.449.70 million, was L2. In the final stage (post eRA), while GR Infraprojects clinched the project, IndiGrid was L2 with its final quote just 0.25 per cent higher than the L1 bid.
The ISTS scheme housed under Pachora Power Transmission Ltd, with an estimated cost of Rs.540 crore, is scheduled to complete within 24 months from the date of SPV transfer, which implies scheduled completion date of February 13, 2026.
Major elements involved in the scheme are augmentation of the existing Pachora Pooling Station (PS) by 1,500 MVA and a new 400kV double-circuit line from Pachora PS to the Ujjain substation of MPPTCL.
Halvad Transmission Ltd
Adani Energy Solutions Ltd is the developer of the project housed under Halvad Transmission Ltd. The underlying ISTS scheme is officially termed as “Transmission scheme for evacuation of an additional 7 GW of RE power from Khavda RE Park under Phase III Part A.”
As reported by T&D India on April 24, 2024, Halvad Transmission was seeking transmission licence from CERC and was expected to submit objections, if any, to a public notice, by May 13, 2024. As no objections were received to the public notice issued on May 1, 2024, CERC has now granted final transmission licence to Halvad Transmission Ltd.
Also read: CERC Adopts Tariff For Five ISTS-TBCB Schemes
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