APTEL upholds Sasan project's commercial date of operation

Reliance Power today said the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) has upheld its Commercial Operational Date (COD) plea for Sasan plant, which will pave the way for the project to recover Rs 1,050 crore from power procurers.
"The APTEL order now paves the way for Sasan Power Ltd to recover the unpaid amount of nearly Rs 850 crore from the procurers. Sasan Power would also be entitled to nearly Rs 200 crore of carrying cost as per the Power Purchase Agreements," the company said in a statement.
The first unit COD of Sasan UMPP was challenged by WRLDC (Western Regional Load Despatch Centre).

The WRLDC is the apex body to ensure integrated operation of the power system in the western region.
The company said the first unit of 660 MW achieved commercial operation on March 31, 2013. The same was challenged by WRLDC before Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).
CERC, in its order in August 2014, allowed the Petition of WRLDC and dismissed the COD date of March 31, while the same was accepted by all power procurers from the project.

Aggrieved by the CERC order, Sasan Power Ltd appealed the same to APTEL, which today allowed the appeal of Sasan UMPP and dismissed the petition filed by WRLDC before CERC.

"This enables Sasan Power to recover its revenue backlog of close to Rs 850 crore from its procurers. PPAs allow carrying cost due which is close to Rs 200 crore," the company said.
Reliance Power's Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project is in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh, which is an integrated power plant cum coal mining project at a single location, involving an investment of over Rs 27,000 crore.
Sasan UMPP has been delivering 'best-in-class performance among its peers in its very first year of full operations with plant operating at over 100 per cent plan load factor and coal mines achieving the highest coal production amongst private sector player producing nearly 17 million tonnes during 2015-16.