Introduction
In a recent Judgement dated 21 December 2021 in Appeal No. 69 of 2021: Saurya Urja Company of Rajasthan Limited (Saurya Urja) vs. Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) & Ors., the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) set aside RERC’s Order dated 08 December 2020 in Petition No. 1783 of 2020: ACME Jodhpur Solar Power Private Limited & Anr. vs. Saurya Urja (ACME) & Anr., and clarified that:
(i) State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) does not have the jurisdiction under Section 86(1)(f) of the Electricity Act, 2003 (Electricity Act) to adjudicate upon a dispute between the Solar Power Park Developer (SPPD) i.e., Saurya Urja and the Solar Power Developer/Generator (SPD) i.e., ACME, since the SPPD is neither a ‘Generating Company’ nor a ‘Licensee’ under the Electricity Act;
(ii) as per the Guidelines for Development of Solar Parks (Guidelines) notified by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), SPPD has been entrusted with the development of the transmission network within the solar park as a captive/dedicated transmission system of the SPDs of the park and thus, is not a ‘Transmission Licensee’; and
(iii) as per the Implementation Support Agreement dated 03 January 2018 (Agreement) entered into between the SPPD and SPD (a) any dispute between the SPPD and the SPD is to be resolved through arbitration and (b) the SPPD is empowered to restrict excess generation by the SPD beyond the rated capacity and the SPD is mandated to forego the excess generation and reduce the output to the rated capacity. The said provisions of the Agreement are in addition to and not in conflict with the Electricity Act or the Rules/Regulations framed thereunder.
Brief Background
- The SPD set up 2×100 MWac solar power projects under MNRE’s National Solar Mission (NSM) Scheme and executed the Agreement with the SPPD, which is a Joint Venture Company between the Government of Rajasthan and IL&FS Energy Development Company Limited. The SPPD was incorporated with the objective to plan, develop and operate solar parks in the State of Rajasthan under the Guidelines. Saurya Urja was authorized as the SPPD by MNRE for obtaining and maintaining connectivity and longterm access in inter-state transmission system and to carry out other associated works for development of Bhadla-III Solar Park at Bhadla, Tehsil Bap, Jodhpur District, Rajasthan (Solar Park).
- Eventually, the SPDs commissioned their projects and started generating and injecting power into the State Grid through the electrical grid commissioned by the SPPD. However, the SPPD on 15 January 2019 wrote to the SPDs regarding the over-injection of power into the grid, as informed by the Regional Load Despatch Centre (RLDC). Pursuant thereto, the SPPD by way of its e-mail 25 May 2019, once again wrote to the SPDs inter-alia stating that the peak load capacity recorded at 13:11 hrs on 25 May 2019 is higher than the rated capacity and asked the SPDs to reduce the …….
Source: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2d742fc8-60b5-4191-83d0-3c59a232fc3e