DERC turns down city discoms' request to relinquish 98 MW power allocation

The power regulator DERC has turned down city discoms' request to allow them to relinquish 98 Mega Watt of power allocation from three generation plants of NTPC, official sources said on Wednesday.

The three discoms BRPL, BYPL and TPDDL had through Delhi government last year sought reallocation of 98 MW of power from NTPC power plants-

Kahalgaon-I (51 MW), Farakka (23 MW) and Unchahar -I (24 MW).

"The request was turned down by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission considering lower cost and their contribution in meeting the existing demand," the sources said.

It was communicated by DERC to Delhi government's additional chief secretary(power) in a letter in December 2022, they said.

The average power purchase cost of Delhi is higher as compared to many other states due to "higher allocation from the costly power plants", stated the letter. Delhi has neither coal mines nor hydro-potential and is totally dependent on central PSUs as major source of its power supply.

Further, the letter stated that NTPC's gas based stations- Anta, Auraiya and Dadri-Gas- have higher generation cost.

The generation cost of these (Kahalgaon-I, Farakka and Unchahar -I) plants is lower as compared to that of gas based plants, it said.

"Considering the cost and their contribution in meeting the existing demand, the power allocation from these plants to Delhi will require to be continued at present," stated the DERC letter.

The distribution licences (discoms) also informed DERC that the matter related to surrender of power from Dadri-I is subjudice.

Power regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in July 2022 had allowed Reliance Infrastructure firms BRPL and BYPL to exit power purchase agreements with NTPC's Dadri-I power plant, which completed 25 years.

The NTPC has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against it.