Electricity regulator CERC has asked Reliance Power to submit details by February 28 about its Sasan project wherein the company has claimed to have suffered significantly due to impact of rupee depreciation.
Reacting to the directive, Reliance Power today said it "welcomes the order of the CERC recognising that the unprecedented and unforeseen foreign exchange rate variations beyond the control of the company and beyond the normal expectations may need to be considered for quantification and compensation by the procurers appropriately".
Reliance Power is implementing the 3,960 MW Sasan ultra mega power project in Madhya Pradesh. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), in an order dated February 21, has asked Reliance Power to submit required information about Sasan project on or before February 28, 2014.
The petition is listed for hearing on April 17. Reliance Power has been asked to submit information related to "bid assumptions (original and revised) for the levelised tariff of Rs 1.19617/kWh containing the different elements including the escalations factored for each of the elements".
Among others, information about estimated project cost at the time of bid and rebid as well as actual project cost indicating specifically cost of equipment is also to be provided to the regulator. The company had submitted before the regulator that rupee depreciation is unforeseeable and unprecedented which has dversely impacted the project economics for no fault of it.
CERC has said that considering the extremely competitive rate at which the procurers are getting power from Sasan project, there may be a case for the procurers to share a part of the burden as compensation on account of rupee depreciation in order to make the project viable.
"The Commission considers it necessary to examine all the issues with reference to the base records of the petitioner in contracting debts for the project before taking a final view on intervening and giving any directions in this regard," the order said.
In the statement, the company also said it is grateful to the CERC for "specifying a fast track eight week schedule to examine relevant facts before giving any final directions in this regard... in the interest of the project as well as consumers of the procurer states".
Separately, CERC has disposed of another petition from the company seeking compensation due to change in law impacting revenues and costs of the Sasan project. Sasan UMPP has six units, each having generation capacity of 660 MW. Two units have already been commissioned and the third unit has achieved boiler-light-up.
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