Tamil Nadu sets new levellised generic solar tariff for 2018-19

The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has issued a levellised generic tariff of Rs 3.11 per kWh for solar power procurement in the state in 2018-19. This tariff is applicable for projects not availing of accelerated depreciation (AD) benefits. However, an AD component of Re 0.06 per kWh has also been set, which will reduce the levellised tariff including AD to Rs 3.05 per kWh. TNERC has considered an amount of Rs 35 million per MW as the project cost and a capacity utilisation factor (CUF) of 19 per cent for tariff calculations. Moreover, the commission has fixed the operations and maintenance (O&M) expenses at 1.4 per cent of the capital cost of solar projects, with an escalation of 5.72 per cent from the second year onwards. In addition, the useful life of a solar project has been fixed at 25 years.