Andhra Pradesh, which was once stuck with the issue of power purchase agreements (PPAs), is now taking steps to correct the situation that would not only result in lessening the financial burden on Discoms’, but also give some respite to the end consumers.

Recently, the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (AP Transco) has connected the SEIL Energy India Ltd’s (formerly Sembcorp Energy India Ltd) thermal power plant evacuation line directly to the AP State Grid. This direct connection to the State grid will now avoid the Central Transmission Utility (CTU) charges burden to Discoms.

CTU has been assigned the responsibility of undertaking transmission of electricity through inter-state transmission system (ISTS) and discharge all functions of planning and coordination under section 38 of Electricity Act, 2003. And for undertaking this activity, CTU levies charges.

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According to AP Transco , for daily evacuation of the 15 million units being generated from this plant, a savings of almost ₹1 crore would accrue to the Discoms and thus, more than ₹365 crore annually would be saved. It would also result in lesser burden on end customers.

This plant was set up to supply power to AP Discoms under the the signed long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with SEIL for supply of 625 MW power, connecting one unit of SEIL plant in Nellore. This enabled supply from one of the units of this super critical power plant directly through the State transmission network.

“This connection was established on January 23, and will help the AP Discoms to save on transmission charges as it will not be required to pay to the central grid. It will also ensure receipt of reliable and stable power from the Nellore supercritical power plant of SEIL,” sources associated with the project said.

SEIL Energy India has a 2.64 GW supercritical thermal power generation complex located in SPSR Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh. This unit has capacity of 660 MW and forms part of the four 660 MW supercritical units that are generating power from Nellore.

Andhra Pradesh government has been adopting a rather focused approach to ensure smooth supply of electricity in the State. On January 26, addressing his team and officials, CMD, AP Transco, K Vijayanand said, “The State government is taking stringent steps to strengthen power sector and make it more consumer centric to deliver better services and provide 24x7 quality power to the consumers and make the sector more resilient to meet the State’s electricity demand in future.”

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The State government has attached top priority for welfare of people in implementing Navaratnalu scheme under which 9 hours day time free power is being provided to farm sector. With the strong objective of providing free power to around 19.58 lakh agricultural consumers, the State government has signed agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to purchase 7000 MW of solar power at ₹2.49 a unit.

AP Transco has reduced the transmission losses to under 3 per cent, which is at ₹2.69 per cent, and is striving for further reduction of transmission losses, he said.

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