Draft Norms: MoP Proposes Timeline Of 66 Months For PSPs

NHPC Revises MoU With Maharashtra Govt For 7,350 MW PSPs

The Ministry of Power (MoP) has now issued draft guidelines for the issuance of tenders related to Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs). The new proposed norms mandate that the on-river PSPs need to commence its operations after 66 months after the signing of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). 

For the off-river projects, the developers need to complete these projects within 48 months after the signing of the PPAs. It also said that for the early commencement of these projects, the developers can intimate the procurer with a notice period of 15 days. The ministry also said that the minimum capacity of the first part for part commissioning needs to be 50% of the project capacity of 50 MW, whichever is lower. 

It has also proposed a timeline of 12 months for the financial closure of the project while granting extension charges of Rs 1000 per MW of the contracted capacity per day of delay in the scheduled commissioning of the project.

The Power Ministry’s draft norms also batted for a clarity on the site location. The document said that in such tenders, either the procurer can describe the location chosen by them or in another case give the liberty to the developer to choose the site on their own. It also empowers the developers to use an already commissioned PSP.  

“In this case, supply will be from a PSP developed on a site self-identified by the bidder or from an existing commissioned PSP. In this case the development may be on Finance Own Operate (FOO) basis for a period of 15 years-25 years, which shall be specified in the RfS. PSP developers may self-identify potential sites where a PSP can be constructed or offer storage from already commissioned projects,” the draft norms read. 

The document while talking about the eligibility criteria for PSP developers said that any Indian company, any foreign company or a consortium develop PSPs and take part in such tenders. The ministry also said that procurers also need to define the technical requirements for the PSP which need to include the power capacity in MW, energy capacity in MWh, charge/discharge duration in hours, usage in cycles per day/month among others.