West Bengal Proposes A Ceiling Tariff For Small Renewable Projects

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The West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC) has now released its draft regulations to govern the tariff determination in the state for different forms of electricity generation. The new draft regulations have been named WBERC (Modalities of Tariff Determination) Regulations 2023.

The Commission has asked the public and the stakeholders to send their comments on the draft regulations by July 12. In its latest draft regulation, the WBERC has proposed a ceiling tariff or cap rate for the procurement of renewable energy from small green power generators from the state. 

“Power produced from all renewable energy sources willing to sell their power to the distribution licensees in the state and whose installed capacity is below the minimum capacity permitted for competitive bidding under Section 63 of the Act (Electricity Act 2003), the Commission may, if required, specify ceiling tariff/cap rate for different renewable energy sources,” the draft regulations said. 

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The draft regulations also discussed the tariff determination of the developers of hydroelectric projects, including the Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs). The new regulations said that such projects would have the option of getting their tariff determined in accordance with the RTM (Regulated Tariff Mechanism) framework under Section 62 for the power to be sold to any discoms in the state through a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPAs).

However, for the same, these power units would have to ensure that the long-term PPAs are firmed up to 60 percent or more of the total salable design energy with the discoms in the state. The PPAs also needed to be approved by the commission in this case. The new regulations said that all such hydroelectric power or PSP developers should follow the two-stage investment approval mechanism as specified in the tariff regulations of the commission. 

The draft proposal also said that all the intra-state transmission projects above Rs 250 crore, being part of the STU Transmission Plan, should be implemented through Tariff-based competitive bidding (TCBC). These tariffs would need approval from the state commission too. It also said that STU would be the bid process coordinator for the TCBC implementation for intra-state projects until the state government notifies a separate body. 

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