CERC to hear WRLDC plea on Sasan unit commissioning on Jan 7

WRLDC had questioned the start date of commercial operations at the Sasan plant

Electricity regulator CERC will hear next month a petition by Western Region Load Despatch Centre challenging Reliance Power's claim of commissioning the first unit of its Sasan ultra mega power project.

The CERC (Central Electricity Regulatory Commission) today gave January 7, 2014 as the next hearing date for the The Western Regional Load Despatch Centre (WRLDC) petition.

WRLDC, which operates the power grid in the region, had questioned the start date of commercial operations at the Sasan plant, where the first 660-MW unit was commissioned in March.

Based on a petition filed by the WRLDC, the CERC had set aside a certificate issued by the independent engineer for declaration of commercial operations at the Sasan plant.

Reliance Power filed an appeal with the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) on the grounds that CERC's order is violative of principles of natural justice and is not tenable in law.

APTEL set aside CERC's order on August 13 and directed it to decide afresh on the matter of commercial operation date.

While referring to the judgement of APTEL, WRLDC in its petition with the CERC said that since the issue of maintainability is linked with the main issue on merits, the commission can consider all issues and then come to a conclusion.

Sasan Power Ltd (SPL) is the wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Power which is executing the 4,000 ultra mega power project in Madhya Pradesh. The first unit started producing power on March 30.

The company is executing UMPPs in Sasan, Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand).