APTEL To Decide On Delhi Discoms, Dadri Power Plant Dispute

APTEL Raises Concern Over Unscheduled Power Drawal From Grid By RE Generators

The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) will hear on Monday (Jan 24)  an NTPC’s plea challenging a Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Order, allowing Delhi’s three power distribution companies to exit their power purchase agreements with its Dadri I power plant.

Against the CERC Order, the NTPC had earlier approached the Supreme Court, but the apex court had asked it to move the APTEL to get the relief.

As the APTEL begins hearing the NTPC plea, it would also adjudicate Delhi’s three Discoms — BRPL, BYPL and TPDDL– joint plea to confirm the CERC Order allowing it to exit from the power purchasing agreement with the NTPC’s Dadri I power plant, Discoms sources reportedly said.

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The Discoms officials explained that as part of their efforts to optimise their power purchase costs, the three Discoms had decided to stop purchasing power from the NTPC’s Dadri I power which has completed 25 years of its commercial operation and due to which it has been generating power at costlier rates and selling it at that rate to its customers.

The Discoms had stopped scheduling power from Dadri I plant from November 2020 after it completed its 25 years of operation and had sought to exit from it. But the NTPC had denied them the exit, the sources said.

“Tariff of these stations is comparatively higher than the market sources as well as renewable power procured by the Discoms. Average power purchase price from Dadri-I to Delhi consumers is around Rs 6.50 per unit against the average price of Rs 3.50 a unit power sold by the NTPC to consumers in the rest of the country,” Discom sources explained.

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During fiscal 2019-20, Delhi Discoms had purchased power worth more than Rs 1,150 crore from Dadri I plant. Replacing this expensive power with substantially cheaper green power from SECI available at around Rs 2.50 per unit would cost only Rs 438 crore annually,” they said.

It will lead to savings of around Rs 7,150 crore over the next 10 years, at the rate of around Rs 715 crore a year for Delhi consumers,” they claimed.

Out of the total 15 stations of the NTPC that supply power to Delhi, seven stations, including Dadri – I, are old and expensive. Of these, six have completed 25 years from their Commercial Date of Operation (COD) and have fully recovered their capital cost and the seventh one will do so in April 2022.

Despite the expiry of the agreements with NTPC and not scheduling the expensive power costing around Rs 6.5 per unit from Dadri I, Delhi Discoms had continued to pay over Rs 35 crore per month as fixed charges to NTPC, Discom sources said.