The State Government has requested the Centre to terminate Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with old thermal power stations (TPSs) running with obsolete technology and outliving their life spans.
While a number of TPSs across the country including those of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) have very high power cost and obsolete technology and also have outlived their useful life, DISCOMs are forced to continue with the PPAs with the TPPs due to lack of any inbuilt ‘Exit Clause’. This also creates financial hardship for the DISCOMs when they have to comply with the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) target set by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
States should not be compelled to procure high cost power from such old thermal power plants, pointed out the Odisha Government in a memorandum to the Union Government. State Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari while discussing the issues with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the pre-Budget consultation raised the issue.
These plants should be retired. It is, therefore, requested to terminate the PPAs, for which consent of the DISCOMs have not been taken to undertake renovation and modernisation (R&M) to enhance plant life. This would not only reduce the burden on the DISCOMs but also optimise the uses of national resources. b. Amendment to Electricity Act, 2003. All the States, due to their varying geographical locations and geological conditions, are not naturally endowed with natural resources. Some States have higher potentials for generation of solar energy; some have high wind intensity and some have high hydro potentials while some are rich in coal reserve for generation of thermal power.
Therefore, mandating all the States to abide by a nationally determined uniform and sub-categorised RPO Trajectory (solar/ non-solar/ hydro/ wind RPO, etc.) is neither desirable nor equitable.
Further, Ministry of Power has allowed only those large hydro projects 25-MW-plus projects commissioned after March 8, 2019 to be eligible for RPO.The distinction between various types of renewable energy, purchase obligations (RPO) be eliminated and all sorts renewable energy be treated on an equal footing.
States like Odisha, being coal-rich, may not be considered at par with other renewable energy-rich States for compliance of RPO and the SERC be allowed to fix their RPO trajectory which can be achieved in a realistic manner within the overarching national goals.
All the large hydropower projects, irrespective of their dates of commissioning, may be treated as renewable power and be eligible for compliance of RPO. Similarly at present, only those generators having untied spare capacity are allowed to participate in tenders floated by the SECI for procurement of bundled power, i.e., both renewable energy and conventional power.