The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has addressed the concerns of Torrent Power by approving the changes to the ‘force majeure’ and the ‘change in law’ clauses in the draft power purchase agreement (PPA) for the procurement of power from grid-connected solar projects for the fulfilment of its renewable purchase obligation targets. The commission, however, did not approve the changes in the ‘commissioning schedule’ as it conflicted with the Ministry of Power’s guidelines.
The current announcement comes after Torrent Power raised the issue that ‘force majeure’ in the existing guidelines was extensive and had a vast scope. Hence, developers could easily terminate the PPA thereby, transferring the risk to the power procurer and the end-users. As per the new draft PPA, no party would delay its obligations or revise tariffs due to a force majeure event. Additionally, Torrent Power had also proposed that the power producer will be allowed an increase or decrease in the tariff of Rs 0.01 per kWh for every increase or decrease of Rs 200,000 per MW in the project cost. Further, the company proposed that such an increase or decrease in tariff due to a change in the cost of PV modules should be limited to actual DC capacity or 150 per cent of the contracted AC capacity, whichever is lower. The commissioned approved this proposition as well.
Torrent Power has carried out developments in power generation, transmission, distribution and manufacturing, and supply of power cables. In February 2021, the company won the bid to develop 150 MW of grid-connected solar projects in Gujarat at a tariff of Rs 2.22 per kWh.