Will Things "Brighten Up" for Andhra Pradesh

A lot of drama has been happening around the AP government recently. The new government at the state has turned the whole picture of the renewable energy industry in India upside down. The new Jagan Reddy government coming into power had challenged that the prices of clean energy projects approved by the outgoing AP government were too high, leading to huge losses for the state-owned power distribution companies. Many developers are in a state of awe. ReNew Power, one of the largest renewable energy independent power producers in India is now forced to look for active buyers for its solar assets in the southern states.

However, the state has just approved solar power tariffs arrived during recent auctions. This has sent a sigh of relief for the potential bidders who had commenced construction of projects without waiting for formal approval from the regulators. The state’s power distribution companies, however, were earlier reluctant to adopt these tariffs until these were finally approved by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC). With APERC now directing the discoms to accept the tariffs, things will start to look bright in the southern state. It will also encourage other developers to now venture into Andhra Pradesh again.

SB Energy, Ayana Renewable Power, Sprng Energy, and Engie were four such firms waiting for the approval. Tariffs for the projects range in between Rs 2.72 and Rs 3.15 per unit.

“All the three matters…under consideration herein are ordered, approving the procurement of solar power by Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APSPDCL) and Eastern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APEPDCL) respectively from NTPC and SECI under the PPAs respectively at the tariffs discovered through competitive bidding process,” the APERC order said.

Source: ET