Andhra solar units seek state’s help to expedite power purchase agreements case in HC

A number of developers, including Tata Power, SoftBank Group’s SBG Cleantech and Azure Power are also seeking compensation for arbitrary curtailment of generation by the discoms from their solar projects in the state.

Solar and wind power plant developers in Andhra Pradesh have urged the state government to expedite the hearings in the Amaravati High Court on the pleas concerning 8,000 mega-watt (MW) renewable energy capacities which have been hit by the state’s decision to revise power purchase agreements (PPAs).

The renewable energy developers are seeking compensation against lower tariffs paid to them and have pegged the under-recoveries at around Rs 5,000 crore. The state government, against the advice of the Union power ministry, had formed a committee to revise “abnormally priced wind and solar” PPAs, saying they might have been inked with “malafide intentions”.

Although the AP High Court had struck down the state government order on renegotiating PPAs, it had directed the state owned power distribution companies (discoms) to pay these plants at a provisional rate of Rs 2.43/unit, against the Rs 4.84/unit tariff they were receiving earlier, till the legal disputes are resolved.

In a letter written to chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, industry body National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) said that the matter was last heard on March 11 and even though the Court has resumed operations after pandemic disruptions, the case not been taken up despite the power firms filing urgency applications.

“We would like to request an intervention from the Government of Andhra Pradesh and your good office to seek an early hearing and expedite the decision in the matter from the Andhra Pradesh High Court,” the letter, reviewed by FE, said.

A number of developers, including Tata Power, SoftBank Group’s SBG Cleantech and Azure Power are also seeking compensation for arbitrary curtailment of generation by the discoms from their solar projects in the state.

As FE recently reported, as much as 75% of the 1,000 MW Kadapa solar park in Andhra Pradesh — designed as a joint venture between the Centre and the state government and scheduled to be commissioned in June — is unlikely to materialise, as the state has not yet allotted land for the plants.