- (1.) M/s. Serene Properties Pvt. Ltd. (SPPL) has filed a Petition on 7 October, 2014 for approval of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and adoption of tariff in respect of its Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The tariff has been discovered through a transparent process of bidding, in terms of Section 63 of the Electricity Act (EA), 2003 and the Guidelines for Short -term Procurement of Power by Distribution Licensees through Tariff based Bidding Process, for procurement of 12 MW power for one year from November 1, 2014 to October 31, 2015. SPPL's prayers are as follows:
(2.) "...the Honble Commission may be pleased to: i. Note the document on the conformity of the bid process to the Standard Bidding Process issued by the Bid Evaluation Committee, which is annexed hereto and marked as Annexure - VIII. ii. Approve the PPA entered into by the Petitioner with M/s. Global Energy Pvt. Ltd. dated July 10, 2014, based on the competitive bidding carried out in accordance with ,,Guidelines for short -term (i.e. for a period less than or equal to one year) Procurement of Power by Distribution Licensees through Tariff based bidding process published by Ministry of Power, Government of India, dated May 15, 2012. iii. Approve the adoption of tariff for procurement of power by the Petitioner according to the PPA mentioned above. iv. Condone the delay of 81 days in bidding process, from publication of RfP to signing of PPA, as compared to time stipulated in the standard bidding guidelines... "
(3.) The Petition states that: 3.1. SPPL is setting up a sector -specific SEZ for Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services (IT and ITES) at Plot No. 3, Kalwa, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Taluka Thane, District Thane under Section 3 of the SEZ Act, 2005. After fulfilment of the requirements under S. 3 (8) of the Act and other requirements, the Govt. Of India (GoI) granted a Letter of Approval to SPPL on 23 October, 2006 under S. 3(10) for development, operation and maintenance of the SEZ. SPPL is a Developer of the SEZ as notified by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department of Commerce), GoI vide Notification No. S.O. 1876(E) dated 2 November, 2007. 3.2. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department of Commerce), GoI, vide Notification dated 3 March, 2010 under S. 49(1)(b) of the SEZ Act, 2005, specified that the SEZ Developer is deemed to be a Distribution Licensee under the provisions of the EA, 2003. The proviso to S. 14(b) of the EA, 2003 reads as follows: "Provided that the Developer of a Special Economic Zone notified under sub -section (1) of Section 4 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, shall be deemed to be a licensee for the purpose of this clause, with effect from the date of notification of such Special Economic Zone." 3.3. In November 2011, SPPL filed a Petition (Case No. 157 of 2011) before the Commission for taking on record its deemed Distribution Licensee status under S. 14 of the EA, 2003. Vide Order dated 11 April, 2012, the Commission took on record SPPL's status as a deemed Distribution Licensee accordingly. Subsequently, vide Notification dated 21 August, 2013, the Commission notified the MERC (Specific Conditions of Distribution Licence applicable to SPPL for the SEZ at Airoli, Thane) Regulations, 2013. 3.4. Vide Order dated 12 June, 2014 on SPPL's Petition in Case No. 15 of 2014, the Commission allowed SPPL to charge consumers in its Licence area the tariff applicable to the consumers of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd. (MSEDCL) as the 'ceiling tariff' in its area of supply. Accordingly, it approved the relevant tariff schedule for the Industrial and Commercial consumer categories, and also allowed SPPL to charge its consumers according to the Schedule of Charges applicable to MSEDCL consumers. 3.5. Vide Order dated 12 June, 2014 in Case No. 15 of 2014, the Commission also directed as follows: "9.2 The Petitioner has filed the revised Petition incorporating the specific prayers for Ceiling Tariff and proposing timeframe for the interim arrangement, as per the directions of the Commission in the daily Order dated 6 May, 2014. The Commission notes that there is no Power Purchase Agreement in place by the Petitioner to fulfill its universal service obligation. In order to fulfill these obligations under Section 43 of the Act, the Petitioner is required to ensure that necessary filings are made for PPA approval and subsequent ARR approval in accordance with the provisions of the Act and Regulations thereunder, by adhering to the time frame proposed in the revised Petition." 3.6. Accordingly, SPPL assessed the load requirement of its Licence area through a consultant, M/s. Mitcon Consultancy and Engineering Services Ltd., Pune. The power requirement in its Licence area follows a particular pattern which differs from the load curve of a typical Distribution Licensee. The base load, including the load growth in the next six months to one year, is 6 MW. The additional load requirement from 08:00 hours to 23:00 hours (Monday to Friday) is another 6 MW. The total load requirement, therefore, is 12 MW. 3.7. With the intention of providing quality supply, best services, latest technology and cheaper power to consumers in its Licence area, SPPL is in the process of preparing a procurement plan to purchase power for medium -term/long -term duration by following the standard Case 1 competitive bid process, in accordance with the Guidelines of the Ministry of Power (MoP), GoI. SPPL intends to approach the Commission in future for approval for such medium -term/long -term power procurement. 3.8. However, in the interim period, SPPL initiated the process of procurement of power for the short -term through a competitive bidding process in February, 2014. It issued a Public Notice on 14 February, 2014 in the Times of India, Navbharat Times, Maharashtra Times and Lokmat newspapers, and also notified interested parties regarding the issue of Request for Proposal (RfP). The RfP was for power procurement based on competitive bidding process in accordance with the Guidelines for Short -term Procurement of Power ('the Standard Bidding Guidelines') issued by the MoP, GoI on May 15, 2012 The RfP was also uploaded on its website. Further, SPPL intimated the Commission regarding the initiation of the process of procurement of 12 MW of power on short -term basis for the one -year period starting from May 1, 2014 till April 30, 2015, on 17 February, 2014. 3.9. In response to the RfP, SPPL received three bids, out of which two bidders were disqualified on technical grounds. Since a sole bidder emerged out of the bidding process, vide letter dated 7 April, 2014 SPPL informed the Commission regarding the cancellation of the bid process, and that it would be inviting fresh bids. 3.10. SPPL invited fresh bids by publishing a RfP on 10 April, 2014 for procurement of power for short -term under the Case -1 bidding procedure from June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015 as per the Standard Bidding Guidelines and after necessary customisation. As per the RfP, the bidders were required to bid for supply of 6 MW of power for each of the following two time slots: 1) Slot - 1: Monday to Sunday, from 00:00 hours to 24:00 hours 2) Slot - 2: Monday to Friday, from 08:00 hours to 23:00 hours 3.11. The last date of submission of the RfP bid, date of opening and evaluation of financial and non -financial bids was 25 April, 2014. On the previous day, SPPL published a Corrigendum to the RFP on its website wherein the date was extended to April 30, 2014. In response, SPPL received bids from the following four parties: - 1. M/s. PTC India Ltd., New Delhi 2. M/s. Global Energy Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai 3. M/s. GMR, Mumbai 4. M/s. Essar Power Gujarat Ltd., Mumbai 3.12. SPPL constituted a Bid Evaluation Committee comprising Shri. Vishwas Dhumal, CEO (Industrial Infrastructure); Shri. Suhas Ambade, General Manager (Power); Shri. Vikram Yermalkar, Manager (Power); and Independent Consultant, Shri. Deepak Lad, to evaluate the bids received. 3.13. The bids were opened on 30 April, 2014 in the presence of the Bid Evaluation Committee and representatives of the bidders. M/s. GMR was disqualified as its bid was not in accordance with the RfP conditions. The remaining three bids were separately evaluated for both the time slots considering the applicable transmission charges, Open Access charges and transmission losses in accordance with the Standard Bidding Guidelines. The financial bids offered by the parties are as below: Remarks/ Sl. Name of the Time Quantum Rate Source of Power Bid No. Bidder Slot Offered (Rs./kWh) Ranking Sesa Sterlite Ltd. 6 MW 4.43 Slot - 1 L3 PTC India Adhunik Power and 1. 6 MW 5.13 Ltd. Natural Resources Ltd. Slot - 2 Sesa Sterlite Ltd. 6 MW 4.76 L2 Global Slot - 1 Jindal Power Ltd. 6 MW 4.06 L1 2. Energy Pvt. Slot - 2 Jindal Power Ltd. 6 MW 4.25 L1 Ltd. Slot - 1 GMR, Disqualified as the bid submitted was not in accordance with 3. Mumbai the RfP conditions Slot - 2 Essar Power Gujarat L2 Slot - 1 6 MW 4.249 Essar Power Ltd. 4. Gujarat Ltd. - - - - - Slot ­ 1 Monday to Sunday - 00:00 hours to 24:00 hours Slot ­ 2 Monday to Friday - 08:00 hours to 23:00 hours 3.14. SPPL issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to M/s. Global Energy Pvt. Ltd. (GEPL) on 15 May, 2014 to procure 6 MW of power for each of the two time slots from August 1, 2014 to July 31, 2015. The staggering of the period originally envisaged in the RfP, which was from June, 2014 to May, 2015, was necessitated because of delay in obtaining transmission connectivity from the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Co. Ltd. (MSETCL). Till the filing of the Petition, SPPL has not received transmission connectivity from MSETCL, andhence the actual power flow has not yet started. 3.15. The LoI was accepted by GEPL vide its letter dated 17 May, 2014. Accordingly, SPPL signed the PPA with GEPL on 10 July, 2014 for supply of 6 MW of power for each of the two time slots. 3.16. There are no deviations from the Standard Bidding Guidelines in the entire bidding process and subsequent signing of PPA with the lowest bidder. Hence the Commission may approve the PPA and adopt the tariff for procurement of power determined through the transparent competitive bidding process. 3.17. The Commission may also condone the delay in bidding process on account of constraints in transmission connectivity. The bidding process, from publication of the RfP document to signing of the PPA, has taken 81 days more than the normal time stipulated in the Standard Bidding Guidelines. ;