JOIN USElectricity regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has said that the first 660 MW unit of Reliance Power's 3,960 MW Sasan project could not achieve its "full load" in March 2013 and rejected its plea to appoint an independent technical committee to look into the readiness of that unit.
“We do not find any requirement to constitute a committee as suggested by the petitioner (Reliance Power's Sasan Power Ltd, an Ultra Mega Power Project , UMPP) in view of our finding that the unit-3 (first unit of the Sasan project) of the generating station was unable to achieve its full load on March 31, 2013,” the CERC said in an order.
Reacting to the order, Reliance Power said in a statement it would take appropriate legal steps including filing an appeal in the Tribunal.
The latest order follows another CERC directive passed in June last year, which was challenged by Reliance Power in the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (Aptel).
The tribunal then directed the regulator to pass a fresh order on the matter. "The COD (Commissioning Date) declaration on the basis of the certificate of Independent Engineer issued on March 30, 2013 was not as per the provisions of PPA," CERC said in its latest order dated August 8 on the matter relating to commissioning of Sasan project's first unit.
When contacted, a Reliance Power spokesperson said: "Reliance Power is examining CERC's order on WRLDC's petition and would take appropriate legal steps including filing an appeal in Aptel." The regulator took up the matter on a petition filed by the Western Regional Load Despatch Centre (WRLDC), part of state-owned Power Grid Corp.