Going for an open-access power purchase to reduce the increasing expenditure on electricity for civic facilities, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to purchase renewable power at a rate of Rs 3.40 per kilowatt hour (kWh) and save at least Rs 2.35 crore every month.
The PMC standing committee has approved the civic administration’s proposal to sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the state government-owned Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Technology Limited (MAHAPREIT) for the purpose.
The PMC has to pay around Rs 300 crore every year to meet the power supply needs of civic facilities. It has made a budgetary provision of Rs 293 crore for paying power charges in 2022-23. “It is necessary to take measures to reduce expenditure on purchase of power. The PMC till now have been purchasing power from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) and it will be beneficial for the civic body to purchase from other power utilities through open access system. As per the norms of Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), consumers with more than one megawatt consumption can purchase power through open access system,” said municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar.
All the water purification plants and pumping stations of the civic water supply department have a demand of around 23 MW and consume 1,28,55,450 kWh units per month, which amounts to 15,42,65,400 kWh units every year. “The purchase of power through open access system will reduce the purchase cost by at least Rs 1.83 per unit for the civic body. It will save Rs 2.35 crore per month and Rs 28.23 crore every year for the PMC,” said Kumar.Best of Express Premium
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As per the estimate, the PMC will require 155 million units of power every year with half of it to be consumed during the daytime and the remaining during the night. There will be a need for a 50-megawatt renewable energy source to generate the required 80 million units of power for consumption during the day.
The MAHAPREIT has offered to provide the required power from a renewable energy source through open access system. Thus, it proposed the formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of PMC and MAHAPREIT and a minimum of 26 per cent of its stake has to be with the civic body and guarantee of using 51 per cent of the power generated through renewable energy plant for the civic facilities. The project cost for a renewable energy project of 50 MW is estimated to be Rs 200 crore and the PMC will have to contribute Rs 10.40 crore as its refundable capital investment for the project.
The MAHAPREIT will make available land for setting up solar power generating plant of 50 MW while the SPV will implement the project. “The PMC will be provided power at the rate of Rs 3.40 per unit for 20 years and free of cost for the next five years,” said Kumar.
The purchase of power from solar plants through open access system will help in reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and reduce air pollution, he said adding the earlier plan of purchasing power from another government agency Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is being held back as it is yet to finalise the land for the project and setting up the project would delay the decision to use solar power for civic facilities.
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