The request of the Kochi Corporation to the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) to fix the tariff for excess power produced from the proposed Brahmapuram waste-to-energy plant is “alien to Electricity Act 2003 and the National Tariff Policy,” the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has said.
The Chief Engineer (Commercial and Tariff) of the KSEB raised his objection to the proposal in an affidavit filed before the KSERC.
The deadline fixed by the regulatory commission, which had recently organised a public hearing in Kochi on power tariff, to submit views will end shortly.
Fixing of tariff
The agreement entered into between the Kochi Corporation and GJ Eco Power company states that the company will process a minimum of 300 metric tonnes of municipal waste a day and produce a minimum quantity of power at the rate of 250 kWh per tonne. The civic body has also fixed the tariff for power.
It approached the regulatory commission to fix the tariff for power produced in excess of the agreed quantity.
Incidentally, the commission had earlier rejected a request from the civic body for fixing the tariff “for want of necessary and sufficient details for determining the project-specific tariff in accordance with the statutory provisions and policy guidelines”.
However, the KSEB contended that no such partial fixing of tariff was possible under the existing rules and regulations and the power tariff could be fixed for the entire quantity generated from a unit.
If the KSEB’s objection is accepted, the decision will have a major bearing on the project and the power purchase agreement entered into between the civic body and the company will have to be redrawn.
The National Tariff Policy “stipulates that the States shall endeavour to procure power from renewable energy sources through competitive bidding to keep the tariff low, except from the waste-to-energy plants”.
Thus, the tariff in whatever form derived by the petitioner is not relevant in the present tariff determination process, especially when the purpose of competitive bidding is to keep tariff low.
At the same time, the regulatory body has not yet specified separate norms and parameters for determination of tariff for electricity generated from municipal solid waste, the KSEB pointed out.
