Karnataka signs PPA with APGenco

The Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) of Karnataka today signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corp (APGenco) for realising Karnataka’s share of 117 Mw power generated from the Priyadarshini Jurala Hydro Power Project.

The power companies of both states also signed an MoU for restoring and adjusting the drawal of power. Stating that the project was commissioned in August 2011 and discussions were happening at various levels between officials on both sides for finalising the methodology for evacuation of power and settlement of overdrawal/underdrawal of energy, Power Minister D K Shivakumar said, “Recently, with the initiatives taken by the officials, we could resolve the pending issues.”

He said, the project cost of Rs 720 crore that is Rs 3 crore per Mw will be built into the tariff to be determined at identical rates for both states by the APERC (Andhra Pradesh Electr- icity Regulatory Commission). Officials said, the provisional tariff is Rs 3.23 per unit, and the duration of the PPA is for 35 years. The state will get about 75 million to 200 million units of power annually during the different stages of the project depending on rainfall, they added.

Stating that the power block cost of Rs 140 crore is shared equally by the Escoms and Discoms, they said Karnataka has paid the share of power block cost of Rs 70 crore to APGenco on April 6, 2013. The Jurala project was conceived during 1978 as a multipurpose one envisaged for both irrigation and power generation.

The run-of-the-river project is of 6x39.1 Mw capacity constructed across Krishna River near Revulapally Village in Mehaboob Nagar district of Andhra Pradesh. In the discussions held between 2008-11 regarding the terms and conditions of sharing power it was decided that it will be on 50:50 basis.