CERC Tariff Regulation 2014-19
CERC Tariff Regulation 2014-19
CERC Tariff Regulation 2014-19
NEW DELHI
NOTIFICATION
Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003) read with section 61 thereof and all other powers
enabling it in this behalf, and after previous publication, the Central Electricity
CHAPTER - 1
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title and commencement. (1) These regulations may be called the Central
(2) These regulations shall come into force on 1.4.2014, and unless reviewed earlier
or extended by the Commission, shall remain in force for a period of five years from
1.4.2014 to 31.3.2019:
Provided that where a project or a part thereof, has been declared under
commercial operation before the date of commencement of these regulations and whose
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tariff has not been finally determined by the Commission till that date, tariff in respect
of such project or such part thereof for the period ending 31.3.2014 shall be determined
2. Scope and extent of application. (1) These regulations shall apply in all cases where
tariff for a generating station or a unit thereof and a transmission system or an element
is required to be determined by the Commission under section 62 of the Act read with
section 79 thereof.
(2) These regulations shall not apply for determination of tariff in case of the following:
(a) Generating stations or inter-State transmission systems whose tariff has been
(Terms and Conditions for Tariff determination from Renewable Energy Sources)
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thereof.
requires-
to be incurred after the date of commercial operation of the project and admitted by the
these regulations;
the generating station, such as the equipment being used for the purpose of operating
plant and machinery including switchyard of the generating station and the
transformer losses within the generating station, expressed as a percentage of the sum
of gross energy generated at the generator terminals of all the units of the generating
station:
Provided that auxiliary energy consumption shall not include energy consumed
for supply of power to housing colony and other facilities at the generating station and
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(4) Auditor means an auditor appointed by a generating company or a
transmission licensee, as the case may be, in accordance with the provisions of sections
224, 233B and 619 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956)], as amended from time to
time or Chapter X of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) or any other law for the time
being in force;
(5) Bank Rate means the base rate of interest as specified by the State Bank of India
from time to time or any replacement thereof for the time being in effect plus 350 basis
points;
(6) Beneficiary in relation to a generating station covered under clauses (a) and (b)
trading licensee, the arrangement should be secured through back to back power
Provided further that beneficiary shall also include any person who has
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combustion turbine-generator, associated waste heat recovery boiler, connected steam
(8) Capital Cost means the capital cost as determined in accordance with Regulation
9 of these regulations;
(a) enactment, bringing into effect or promulgation of any new Indian law; or
Indian law; or
project; or
between the Government of India and any other Sovereign Government having
implication for the generating station or the transmission system regulated under
these Regulations.
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(10) 'Commission' means the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission referred to in
Corporation of India Ltd. covered under Unified Load Dispatch and Communication
Radio Communication System and auxiliary power supply system etc. used for
equipment, services and works in which bids are invited by the project developer by
open advertisement covering the scope and specifications of the equipment, services
and works required for the project, and the terms and conditions of the proposed
contract as well as the criteria by which bids shall be evaluated, and shall include
(13) Cut-off Date means 31st March of the year closing after two years of the year of
commercial operation of whole or part of the project, and in case the whole or part of
the project is declared under commercial operation in the last quarter of a year, the cut-
off date shall be 31st March of the year closing after three years of the year of
commercial operation:
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Provided that the cut-off date may be extended by the Commission if it is proved
on the basis of documentary evidence that the capitalisation could not be made within
the cut-off date for reasons beyond the control of the project developer;
(14) Date of Commercial Operation or COD shall have the same meaning as defined
(15) Declared Capacity or DC' in relation to a generating station means, the capability
any time-block of the day as defined in the Grid Code or whole of the day, duly taking
into account the availability of fuel or water, and subject to further qualification in the
relevant regulation;
(16) De-capitalisation for the purpose of the tariff under these regulations, means
after it is certified by the Central Electricity Authority or any other authorized agency,
either on its own or on an application made by the project developer or the beneficiaries
or both, that the project cannot be operated due to non performance of the assets on
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account of technological obsolescence or uneconomic operation or a combination of
these factors;
(18) 'Design Energy' means the quantum of energy which can be generated in a 90%
dependable year with 95% installed capacity of the hydro generating station;
(19) Day means a calendar day consisting of 24 hours period starting at 0000 hour;
(20) Designated ISTS Customers or DICs shall have the same meaning as defined
Charges and Losses) Regulations, 2010 as amended from time to time or subsequent re-
enactment thereof;
(21) Element in respect of a transmission system shall mean an asset which has been
distinctively defined under the scope of the project in the Investment Approval;
(22) Existing Project means a project which has been declared under commercial
(23) Expenditure Incurred means the fund, whether the equity or debt or both,
actually deployed and paid in cash or cash equivalent, for creation or acquisition of a
useful asset and does not include commitments or liabilities for which no payment has
been released;
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(24) Extended Life means the life of a generating station or unit thereof or
transmission system or element thereof beyond the period of useful life, as may be
(25) Force Majeure for the purpose of these regulations means the event or
complete the project within the time specified in the Investment Approval, and only if
such events or circumstances are not within the control the generating company or
transmission licensee and could not have been avoided, had the generating company or
transmission licensee taken reasonable care or complied with prudent utility practices:
(b) Any act of war, invasion, armed conflict or act of foreign enemy, blockade,
(c) Industry wide strikes and labour disturbances having a nationwide impact in
India;
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(26) 'Generating Unit' in relation to a thermal generating station (other than combined
generator and auxiliaries; and in relation to a hydro generating station means turbine-
(27) Grid Code means the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Indian
Electricity Grid Code) Regulations, 2010 as amended from time to time or subsequent
re-enactment thereof;
(28) Gross Calorific Value or GCV in relation to a thermal generating station means
the heat produced in kCal by complete combustion of one kilogram of solid fuel or one
litre of liquid fuel or one standard cubic meter of gaseous fuel, as the case may be;
(29) Gross Station Heat Rate or GHR means the heat energy input in kCal required
station;
(30) Generating Station means any station for generating electricity, including any
building and plant with step-up transformer, switch-gear, switch yard, cables or other
appurtenant equipment, if any, used for that purpose and the site thereof; a site
intended to be used for a generating station, and any building used for housing the
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power, includes penstocks, head and tail works, main and regulating reservoirs, dams
and other hydraulic works, but does not in any case include any sub-station;
Governments of State (where the project is located) and any ministry or department or
(32) Infirm Power means electricity injected into the grid prior to the commercial
(33) Installed Capacity' or 'IC means the summation of the name plate capacities of
all the units of the generating station or the capacity of the generating station reckoned
at the generator terminals, as may be approved by the Commission from time to time;
understanding, or any such covenant, entered into (i) between transmission licensee
and generating station or (ii) between transmission licensee and developer of the
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(35) Inter-State Generating Station or ISGS has the meaning as assigned in the
Grid Code;
(36) Investment Approval means approval by the Board of the generating company
other competent authority conveying administrative sanction for the project including
funding of the project and the timeline for the implementation of the project.
Provided that the date of Investment Approval shall reckon from the date of the
kilowatt or one thousand watts of power produced or consumed over a period of one
hour;
charges and the term may be used interchangeably with the term Designated ISTS
Customers (DICs);
thermal generating station means the maximum continuous output at the generator
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block of a combined cycle thermal generating station means the maximum continuous
output at the generator terminals, guaranteed by the manufacturer with water or steam
injection (if applicable) and corrected to 50 Hz grid frequency and specified site
conditions;
(40) New Project means the project achieving COD or anticipated to be achieving
these regulations for thermal generating station and hydro generating station
respectively;
expenditure incurred for operation and maintenance of the project, or part thereof, and
insurance and overheads but excludes fuel expenses and water charges;
(43) Original Project Cost' means the capital expenditure incurred by the generating
company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be, within the original scope of
(44) Plant Availability Factor or (PAF)' in relation to a generating station for any
period means the average of the daily declared capacities (DCs) for all the days during
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the period expressed as a percentage of the installed capacity in MW less the normative
(45) Plant Load Factor or (PLF) in relation to thermal generating station or unit for a
given period means the total sent out energy corresponding to scheduled generation
installed capacity in that period and shall be computed in accordance with the following
formula:
i=1
Where,
SGi= Scheduled Generation in MW for the ith time block of the period,
generation;
communication system, as the case may be, and in case of a hydro generating station
includes all components of generating facility such as dam, intake water conductor
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system, power generating station and generating units of the scheme, as apportioned to
power generation and in case of thermal generating stations does not include mining if
application and other related matters) Regulations, 2004, as amended from time to time
and time over-run and such other factors as may be considered appropriate by the
Commission for determination of tariff. While carrying out the Prudence Check, the
Commission shall look into whether the generating company or transmission licensee
has been careful in its judgments and decisions for executing the project or has been
(49) 'Pumped storage hydro generating station' means a hydro station which
generates power through energy stored in the form of water energy, pumped from a
(50) Run-of-River generating station means a hydro generating station which does
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(51) Runof-River generating station with pondage means a hydro generating
station with sufficient pondage for meeting the diurnal variation of power demand;
(52) 'Rated Voltage' means the manufacturers design voltage at which the
transmission system is designed to operate and includes such lower voltage at which
any transmission line is charged or for the time being charged, in consultation with
(53) Regular Service means putting into use a transmission system or element
thereof after successful trial operation and a certificate to that effect has been issued by
(54) Scheduled Commercial Operation Date or SCOD shall mean the date(s) of
agreed in power purchase agreement or transmission service agreement as the case may
(55) Scheduled Energy means the quantum of energy scheduled by the concerned
Load Despatch Centre to be injected into the grid by a generating station for a given
time period;
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(56) Scheduled Generation or SG at any time or for any period or time block means
Centre;
Note:
For the open cycle gas turbine generating station or a combined cycle generating station
if the average frequency for any time-block, is below 49.52 Hz but not below 49.02 Hz
and the scheduled generation is more than 98.5% of the declared capacity, the
scheduled generation shall be deemed to have been reduced to 98.5% of the declared
capacity, and if the average frequency for any time-block is below 49.02 Hz and the
scheduled generation is more than 96.5% of the declared capacity, the scheduled
generation shall be deemed to have been reduced to 96.5% of the declared capacity. In
their scheduled drawal with adjustment of transmission losses on post facto basis.
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(58) Small gas turbine generating station' means and includes open cycle gas
turbine or combined cycle generating station with gas turbines in the capacity range of
50 MW or below;
(59) Start Date or Zero Date means the date indicated in the Investment Approval
for commencement of implementation of the project and where no date has been
indicated, the date of investment approval shall be deemed to be Start Date or Zero
Date;
(60) Storage type generating station means a hydro generating station associated
demand;
(61) Thermal Generating Station means a generating station or a unit thereof that
generates electricity using fossil fuels such as coal, lignite, gas, liquid fuel or
generating station shall have the same meaning as specified in Regulation 5 of these
regulations;
(63) 'Transmission Service Agreement' means the agreement entered into between
accordance with the Sharing Regulations and any other agreement between the
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transmission licensee and the long term transmission customer where the payment of
transmission charges are not made through the POC mechanism under Sharing
Regulations;
(64) Transmission Line shall have the same meaning as defined in sub-section (72)
(66) Sub-Station shall have the same meaning as defined in sub-section (69) of
(67) Useful life in relation to a unit of a generating station and transmission system
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Provided that the useful life for AC and DC substations and GIS for which
Provided further that the extension of life of the projects beyond the completion
The words and expressions used in these regulations and not defined herein but
defined in the Act or any other regulation of the Commission shall have the meaning
assigned to them under the Act or any other regulation of the Commission.
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CHAPTER 2
GENERAL
4. Date of Commercial Operation: The date of commercial operation of a
(1) Date of commercial operation in case of a generating unit or block of the thermal
generating station shall mean the date declared by the generating company after
demonstrating the maximum continuous rating (MCR) or the installed capacity (IC)
through a successful trial run after notice to the beneficiaries, if any, and in case of the
generating station as a whole, the date of commercial operation of the last generating
Provided that
(i) where the beneficiaries have been tied up for purchasing power from the
generating station, the trial run shall commence after seven days notice by the
(ii) the generating company shall certify to the effect that the generating station
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(iii) the certificate shall be signed by CMD/CEO/MD of the company subsequent to
its approval by the Board of Directors in the format enclosed at Appendix VI and
station including pumped storage hydro generating station shall mean the date
declared by the generating company from 0000 hour after the scheduling process in
accordance with the Grid code is fully implemented, and in relation to the generating
station as a whole, the date declared by the generating company after demonstrating
Provided that:
(i) where beneficiaries have been tied up for purchasing power from generating
generating station through a successful trial run shall commence after seven days
(ii) the generating company shall certify to the effect that the generating station
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(Technical Standards for Construction of Electrical plants and electric lines)
its approval by the Board of Directors in the format enclosed at Appendix VI and
(iv) in case a hydro generating station with pondage or storage is not able to
of the last unit of the generating station shall be considered as the date of
under commercial operation during lean inflows period when the water inflow is
available.
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(3) Date of commercial operation in relation to a transmission system shall mean the
date declared by the transmission licensee from 0000 hour of which an element of the
transmission system is in regular service after successful trial operation for transmitting
Provided that:
(i) where the transmission line or substation is dedicated for evacuation of power
service for reasons not attributable to the transmission licensee or its supplier or
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thereof shall mean the date declared by the transmission licensee from 0000 hour of
which a communication system or element is put into service after completion of site
acceptance test including transfer of voice and data to respective control centre as
5. Trial Run and Trial Operation.- (1) Trial Run in relation to generating station or
unit thereof shall mean the successful running of the generating station or unit thereof
in case of unit of a thermal generating station or unit thereof and 12 hours in case of a
Provided that where the beneficiaries have been tied up for purchasing power
from the generating station, the trial run shall commence after seven days notice by the
mean successful charging of the transmission system or an element thereof for 24 hours
at continuous flow of power, and communication signal from sending end to receiving
end and with requisite metering system, telemetry and protection system in service
enclosing certificate to that effect from concerned Regional Load Dispatch Centre.
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CHAPTER - 3
6. Tariff determination
(1) Tariff in respect of a generating station may be determined for the whole of the
generating station or stage or generating unit or block thereof, and tariff in respect of a
transmission system may be determined for the whole of the transmission system or
transmission system:
Provided that:
(i) where all the generating units of a stage of a generating station or all elements
may be, shall file consolidated petition in respect of the entire generating station
or transmissions system for the purpose of determination of tariff for the period
2014-15 to 2018-19:
or transmission licensee shall file a consolidated petition combining all the units
of the transmission system which are likely to be commissioned during next six
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months from the date of application:
(iii) the tariff of the existing communication system forming part of transmission
1.4.2014.
(2) For the purpose of determination of tariff, the capital cost of a project may be
broken up into stages, blocks, units, transmission lines and sub-stations, forming part of
Provided that where break-up of the capital cost of the project for different stages
or units or blocks and for transmission lines or sub-stations is not available and in case
of on-going projects, the common facilities shall be apportioned on the basis of the
irrigation, flood control and power components, the capital cost chargeable to the
power component of the scheme only shall be considered for determination of tariff.
(3) Where an existing transmission project has been granted licence under section 14
of the Act read with Regulation 6(c) of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
electricity and related matters) Regulations, 2009, the tariff of such project shall be
applicable from the date of grant of transmission licence or from the date as indicated in
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the transmission licence, as the case may be. In such cases, the applicant shall file
petition as per Annexure-I, clearly demarcating the assets which form the part of
regulated business of generation and transmission, the value of such assets, source of
(4) In case of multi-purpose hydro generation scheme with irrigation, flood control
and power components, the capital cost chargeable to the power component of the
(5) Where only a part of the generation capacity of a generating station is tied up for
supplying power to the beneficiaries through long term power purchase agreement and
the balance part of the generation capacity have not been tied up for supplying power
to the beneficiaries, the tariff of the generating station shall be determined with
reference to the capital cost of the entire project, but the tariff so determined shall be
(1) The generating company may make an application for determination of tariff for
new generating station or unit thereof in accordance with the Procedure Regulations, in
respect of the generating station or generating units thereof within 180 days of the
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(2) The transmission licensee may make an application for determination of tariff for
communication system or element thereof, the application shall be made not later than
180 days from the date of notification of these regulations based on admitted capital
additional capital expenditure for the respective years of the tariff period 2014-15 to
2018-19.
(4) The generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be, shall
incurred duly certified by the auditors or projected to be incurred during the tariff
period of the generating station or the transmission system as the case may be:
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Provided that the petition shall contain details of underlying assumptions for the
(5) If the petition is inadequate in any respect as required under Annexure-I of these
transmission licensee as the case may be, for resubmission of the petition within one
month after rectifying the deficiencies as may be pointed out by the staff of the
Commission.
(6) If the information furnished in the petition is in accordance with the regulations
and is adequate for carrying out prudence check of the claims made, the Commission
shall consider the suggestions and objections, if any, received from the respondents
within one month from the date of filing of the petition and any other person including
the consumers or consumer associations. The Commission shall issue the tariff order
after hearing the petitioner, the respondents and any other person specifically permitted
by the Commission.
(7) In case of the new projects, the generating company or the transmission licensee,
as the case may be, may be allowed tariff by the Commission based on the projected
capital expenditure from the anticipated COD in accordance with Regulation 6 of these
regulations:
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Provided that :
(i) the Commission may grant tariff upto 90% of the annual fixed charges claimed in
certificate regarding the capital cost for the purpose of inclusion in the POC
(ii) if the date of commercial operation is delayed beyond 180 days from the date of
issue of tariff order in terms of clause (6) of this regulation, the tariff granted
shall be deemed to have been withdrawn and the generating company or the
(iii) where the capital cost considered in tariff by the Commission on the basis of
exceeds the actual capital cost incurred on year to year basis by more than 5%,
beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers /DICs as the case may be,
the Commission alongwith interest at 1.20 times of the bank rate as prevalent on
(iv) where the capital cost considered in tariff by the Commission on the basis of
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falls short of the actual capital cost incurred on year to year basis by more than
recover from the beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers /DICs as
the case may be, the shortfall in tariff corresponding to reduction in capital cost,
(8) In case of the existing projects, the generating company or the transmission
licensee, as the case may be, may be allowed tariff by the Commission based on the
admitted capital cost as on 1.4.2014 and projected additional capital expenditure for the
respective years of the tariff period 2014-15 to 2018-19 in accordance with the
Regulation 6:
Provided that:
(i) the generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be, shall
tariff approved by the Commission and applicable as on 31.3.2014 for the period
(ii) where the capital cost considered in tariff by the Commission on the basis of
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may be, exceeds the actual capital cost incurred on year to year basis by more
than 5%, the generating company or the transmission licensee shall refund to the
beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers /DICs as the case may be,
the excess tariff recovered corresponding to excess capital cost, ,as approved by
the Commission alongwith interest at 1.20 times of the bank rate as prevalent on
(iii) where the capital cost considered in tariff by the Commission on the basis of
may be, falls short of the actual capital cost incurred on year to year basis by
more than 5%, the generating company or the transmission licensee shall be
entitled to recover from the beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers
/DICs as the case may be, the shortfall in tariff corresponding to reduction in
8. Truing up
(1) The Commission shall carry out truing up exercise along with the tariff petition
filed for the next tariff period, with respect to the capital expenditure including
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Provided that the generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case
may be, shall make an application for interim truing up of capital expenditure including
(2) The generating station shall carry out truing up of tariff of generating station
a) Controllable Parameters :
(3) The Commission shall carry out truing up of tariff of generating station based on
i) Force Majeure;
(4) The Transmission Licensee shall carry out truing up of tariff of transmission
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(5) The Commission shall carry out truing up of tariff of transmission licensee based
(6) The financial gains by a generating company or the transmission licensee, as the
(iii) of this Regulation shall be shared in the ratio of 60:40 between generating station
and beneficiaries:
Where,
ECRN Normative Energy Charge Rate computed on the basis of norms specified
for Station Heat Rate, Auxiliary Consumption and Secondary Fuel Oil
Consumption.
ECRA Actual Energy Charge Rate computed on the basis of actual SHR, Auxiliary
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Clause 4 of this Regulation shall be shared in accordance with Clause 7 of
(7) The financial gains and losses by a generating company or the transmission
licensee, as the case may be, on account of uncontrollable parameters shall be passed on
(8) The generating company or the transmission licensee as the case may be, shall
carry out the truing up of grossed up rate of return on equity in accordance with Clause
(9) The generating company or the transmission licensee as the case may be, shall
make an application, as per Annexure-I to these regulations, for carrying out truing up
exercise in respect of the generating station or a unit or block thereof or the transmission
(10) The generating company or the transmission licensee as the case may be, shall
submit for the purpose of truing up, details of actual capital expenditure and additional
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capital expenditure incurred for the period from 1.4.2014 to 31.3.2019, duly audited and
(11) Where after the truing up, the tariff recovered exceeds the tariff approved by the
licensee, shall refund to the beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers
/DICs, as the case may be, the excess amount so recovered as specified in the Clause 13
of this regulation.
(12) Where after the truing up, the tariff recovered is less than the tariff approved by
the Commission under these regulations, the generating company or the transmission
licensee shall recover from the beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers
/DICs, as the case may be, the under-recovered amount as specified in the Clause 13 of
this regulation.
(13) The amount under-recovered or over-recovered, along with simple interest at the
rate equal to the bank rate as on 1st April of the respective year, shall be recovered or
refunded by the generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be, in
six equal monthly instalments starting within three months from the date of the tariff
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CHAPTER - 4
9. Capital Cost:(1) The Capital cost as determined by the Commission after prudence
check in accordance with this regulation shall form the basis of determination of
(2) The Capital Cost of a new project shall include the following:
(b) Interest during construction and financing charges, on the loans (i) being
equal to 70% of the funds deployed, in the event of the actual equity in
normative loan, or (ii) being equal to the actual amount of loan in the event
(e) capitalised Initial spares subject to the ceiling rates specified in Regulation 13
of these regulations;
(h) adjustment of any revenue earned by the transmission licensee by using the
(3) The Capital cost of an existing project shall include the following:
(a) the capital cost admitted by the Commission prior to 1.4.2014 duly trued up
(b) additional capitalization and de-capitalization for the respective year of tariff
(4) The capital cost in case of existing/new hydro generating station shall also
include:
(a) cost of approved rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) plan of the project in
conformity with National R&R Policy and R&R package as approved; and
(b) cost of the developers 10% contribution towards Rajiv Gandhi Grameen
(5) The capital cost with respect to thermal generating station, incurred or projected
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Government of India will be considered by the Commission on case to case basis and
shall include:
Scheme; and
(6) The following shall be excluded or removed from the capital cost of the existing
(a) The assets forming part of the project, but not in use;
be incurred by a project developer for getting the project site allotted by the State
(d) the proportionate cost of land which is being used for generating power from
Provided that any grant received from the Central or State Government or
any statutory body or authority for the execution of the project which does not
carry any liability of repayment shall be excluded from the Capital Cost for the
adopted for prudence check of capital cost of the existing or new projects:
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(1) In case of the thermal generating station and the transmission system, prudence
check of capital cost may be carried out taking into consideration the benchmark norms
Provided that in cases where benchmark norms have not been specified,
prudence check may include scrutiny of the capital expenditure, financing plan, interest
use of efficient technology, cost over-run and time over-run, competitive bidding for
Provided further that in cases where benchmark norms have been specified, the
generating company or transmission licensee shall submit the reasons for exceeding the
capital cost from benchmark norms to the satisfaction of the Commission for allowing
(2) The Commission may issue new guidelines or revise the existing guidelines for
and in that event the capital cost as vetted by such agency or expert may be considered
by the Commission while determining the tariff for the hydro generating station.
(3) The Commission may issue new guidelines or revise the existing guidelines for
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accordance with the tariff policy issued by the Central Government under section 3 of
the Act from time to time which shall be considered for prudence check.
(4) Where the power purchase agreement entered into between the generating
company and the beneficiaries provides for ceiling of actual capital expenditure, the
Commission shall take into consideration such ceiling for determination of tariff for
Construction (IEDC)
(1) Interest during construction shall be computed corresponding to the loan from
the date of infusion of debt fund, and after taking into account the prudent phasing of
(2) In case of additional costs on account of IDC due to delay in achieving the SCOD,
the generating company or the transmission licensee as the case may be, shall be
required to furnish detailed justifications with supporting documents for such delay
Provided that if the delay is not attributable to the generating company or the
transmission licensee as the case may be, and is due to uncontrollable factors as
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specified in Regulation 12 of these regulations, IDC may be allowed after due prudence
check:
Provided further that only IDC on actual loan may be allowed beyond the SCOD
to the extent, the delay is found beyond the control of generating company or the
transmission licensee, as the case may be, after due prudence and taking into account
(1) Incidental expenditure during construction shall be computed from the zero date
account of interest on deposits or advances, or any other receipts may be taken into
(2) In case of additional costs on account of IEDC due to delay in achieving the
SCOD, the generating company or the transmission licensee as the case may be, shall be
required to furnish detailed justification with supporting documents for such delay
including the details of incidental expenditure during the period of delay and
Provided that if the delay is not attributable to the generating company or the
transmission licensee, as the case may be, and is due to uncontrollable factors as
specified in regulation 12, IEDC may be allowed after due prudence check:
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Provided further that where the delay is attributable to an agency or contractor
liquidated damages recovered from such agency or contractor or supplier shall be taken
(3) In case the time over-run beyond SCOD is not admissible after due prudence, the
increase of capital cost on account of cost variation corresponding to the period of time
over run may be excluded from capitalization irrespective of price variation provisions
transmission licensee.
(1) The controllable factors shall include but shall not be limited to the following:
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c) Delay in execution of the project on account of contractor, supplier or
(2) The uncontrollable factors shall include but shall not be limited to the following:
licensee:
Provided further that if the generating station is not commissioned on the SCOD
of the associated transmission system, the generating company shall bear the IDC or
the generating station, the transmission licensee shall arrange the evacuation from the
generating station at its own arrangement and cost till the associated transmission
system is commissioned.
13. Initial Spares: Initial spares shall be capitalised as a percentage of the Plant
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and Machinery cost upto cut-off date, subject to following ceiling norms:
Station - 4.00%
Provided that:
i. where the benchmark norms for initial spares have been published as part of the
benchmark norms for capital cost by the Commission, such norms shall apply to
ii. where the generating station has any transmission equipment forming part of the
generation project, the ceiling norms for initial spares for such equipments shall
be as per the ceiling norms specified for transmission system under these
regulations:
46
iii. once the transmission project is commissioned, the cost of initial spares shall be
iv. for the purpose of computing the cost of initial spares, plant and machinery cost
shall be considered as project cost as on cut-off date excluding IDC, IEDC, Land
Cost and cost of civil works. The transmission licensee shall submit the break up
(1) The capital expenditure in respect of the new project or an existing project
incurred or projected to be incurred, on the following counts within the original scope
of work, after the date of commercial operation and up to the cut-off date may be
(iii) Procurement of initial capital spares within the original scope of work, in
Provided that the details of works asset wise/work wise included in the original
47
scope of work along with estimates of expenditure, liabilities recognized to be payable
at a future date and the works deferred for execution shall be submitted along with the
new project on the following counts within the original scope of work after the cut-off
(iii) Deferred works relating to ash pond or ash handling system in the
(iv) Any liability for works executed prior to the cut-off date, after prudence
package, reasons for such withholding of payment and release of such payments
etc.
incurred on the following counts after the cut-off date, may be admitted by the
48
decree of a court of law;
(iii) Any expenses to be incurred on account of need for higher security and
security;
(iv) Deferred works relating to ash pond or ash handling system in the original
scope of work;
(v) Any liability for works executed prior to the cut-off date, after prudence
payments etc.;
(vi) Any liability for works admitted by the Commission after the cut-off date
(vii) Any additional capital expenditure which has become necessary for
stations or transmission system as the case may be. The claim shall be
49
technology, up-gradation of capacity for the technical reason such as
(viii) In case of hydro generating stations, any expenditure which has become
company) and due to geological reasons after adjusting the proceeds from
work which has become necessary for successful and efficient plant
operation;
equipment not covered by insurance and any other expenditure which has
system; and
(x) Any capital expenditure found justified after prudence check necessitated
50
coal linkage in respect of thermal generating station as result of
Provided that any expenditure on acquiring the minor items or the assets
coolers, computers, fans, washing machines, heat convectors, mattresses, carpets etc.
brought after the cut-off date shall not be considered for additional capitalization for
Provided further that any capital expenditure other than that of the nature
specified above in (i) to (iv) in case of coal/lignite based station shall be met out of
compensation allowance:
Provided also that if any expenditure has been claimed under Renovation and
licensee, as the case may be, the original cost of such asset as on the date of de-
capitalisation shall be deducted from the value of gross fixed asset and corresponding
loan as well as equity shall be deducted from outstanding loan and the equity
respectively in the year such de-capitalisation takes place, duly taking into
15. Renovation and Modernisation: (1) The generating company or the transmission
51
licensee, as the case may be, for meeting the expenditure on renovation and
modernization (R&M) for the purpose of extension of life beyond the originally
recognised useful life for the purpose of tariff of the generating station or a unit thereof
or the transmission system or an element thereof, shall make an application before the
Commission for approval of the proposal with a Detailed Project Report giving
reference price level, estimated completion cost including foreign exchange component,
if any, and any other information considered to be relevant by the generating company
(2) Where the generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be,
makes an application for approval of its proposal for renovation and modernisation, the
efficient technology, cost-benefit analysis, and such other factors as may be considered
(3) In case of gas/ liquid fuel based open/ combined cycle thermal generating
station, any expenditure which has become necessary for renovation of gas
turbines/steam turbine after 25 years of operation from its COD and an expenditure
52
stations shall be allowed :
Provided that any expenditure included in the R&M on consumables and cost of
components and spares which is generally covered in the O&M expenses during the
major overhaul of gas turbine shall be suitably deducted after due prudence from the
modernization expenditure and life extension, and after deducting the accumulated
depreciation already recovered from the original project cost, shall form the basis for
determination of tariff.
company, instead of availing R&M may opt to avail a special allowance in accordance
with the norms specified in this regulation, as compensation for meeting the
requirement of expenses including renovation and modernisation beyond the useful life
of the generating station or a unit thereof, and in such an event, revision of the capital
cost shall not be allowed and the applicable operational norms shall not be relaxed but
Provided that such option shall not be available for a generating station or
53
unit for which renovation and modernization has been undertaken and the expenditure
(2) The Special Allowance shall be @ Rs. 7.5 lakh/MW/year for the year 2014-15 and
thereafter escalated @ 6.35% every year during the tariff period 2014-15 to 2018-19, unit-
wise from the next financial year from the respective date of the completion of useful
life with reference to the date of commercial operation of the respective unit of
generating station:
Provided that in respect of a unit in commercial operation for more than 25 years
Provided further that the special allowance for the generating stations, which, in
its discretion, has already availed of a special allowance in accordance with the norms
Special Allowance by escalating the special allowance allowed for the year 2013-14 @
(3) In the event of granting special allowance by the Commission, the expenditure
generating station and details of same shall be made available to the Commission as
of capital nature which are not admissible under Regulation 14 of these regulations, and
in such an event, revision of the capital cost shall not be allowed on account of
recovered separately.
(2) The Compensation Allowance shall be allowed in the following manner from the
year following the year of completion of 10, 15, or 20 years of useful life:
0-10 Nil
11-15 0.20
16-20 0.50
21-25 1.00
18. Sale of Infirm Power: Supply of infirm power shall be accounted as deviation
and shall be paid for from the regional deviation settlement fund accounts in
Mechanism and Related matters) Regulations, 2014, as amended from time to time or
55
Provided that any revenue earned by the generating company from supply of
infirm power after accounting for the fuel expenses shall be applied in adjusting the
19. Debt-Equity Ratio: (1) For a project declared under commercial operation on or
after 1.4.2014, the debt-equity ratio would be considered as 70:30 as on COD. If the
equity actually deployed is more than 30% of the capital cost, equity in excess of 30%
Provided that:
i. where equity actually deployed is less than 30% of the capital cost, actual
ii. the equity invested in foreign currency shall be designated in Indian rupees
iii. any grant obtained for the execution of the project shall not be considered as
transmission licensee, as the case may be, while issuing share capital and investment of
internal resources created out of its free reserve, for the funding of the project, shall be
reckoned as paid up capital for the purpose of computing return on equity, only if such
premium amount and internal resources are actually utilised for meeting the capital
56
(2) The generating company or the transmission licensee shall submit the resolution
of the Board of the company or approval from Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA) regarding infusion of fund from internal resources in support of the utilization
made or proposed to be made to meet the capital expenditure of the generating station
or the transmission system including communication system, as the case may be.
(3) In case of the generating station and the transmission system including
equity ratio allowed by the Commission for determination of tariff for the period
(4) In case of the generating station and the transmission system including
where debt: equity ratio has not been determined by the Commission for determination
of tariff for the period ending 31.3.2014, the Commission shall approve the debt:equity
tariff, and renovation and modernisation expenditure for life extension shall be serviced
57
CHAPTER 5
TARIFF STRUCTURE
20. Components of Tariff: (1) The tariff for supply of electricity from a thermal
generating station shall comprise two parts, namely, capacity charge (for recovery of
regulations) and energy charge (for recovery of primary and secondary fuel cost and
(2) The tariff for supply of electricity from a hydro generating station shall comprise
capacity charge and energy charge to be derived in the manner specified in Regulation
31 of these regulations, for recovery of annual fixed cost (consisting of the components
(3) The tariff for transmission of electricity on inter-State transmission system shall
comprise transmission charge for recovery of annual fixed cost consisting of the
21. Capacity Charges: The Capacity charges shall be derived on the basis of annual
fixed cost. The annual fixed cost (AFC) of a generating station or a transmission system
58
(a) Return on equity;
(c) Depreciation;
17, wherever applicable shall be recovered separately and shall not be considered for
22. Energy Charges: Energy charges shall be derived on the basis of the landed fuel
cost (LFC) of a generating station (excluding hydro) and shall consist of the following
cost:
Provided that any refund of taxes and duties along with any amount received
on account of penalties from fuel supplier shall have to be adjusted in fuel cost.
23. Landed Fuel Cost for Tariff Determination: The landed fuel cost of primary
59
fuel and secondary fuel for tariff determination shall be based on actual weighted
average cost of primary fuel and secondary fuel of the three preceding months, and
in the absence of landed costs for the three preceding months, latest procurement
price of primary fuel and secondary fuel for the generating station, before the start of
the tariff period for existing stations and immediately preceding three months in case
60
CHAPTER 6
24. Return on Equity: (1) Return on equity shall be computed in rupee terms, on the
(2) Return on equity shall be computed at the base rate of 15.50% for thermal
the river hydro generating station, and at the base rate of 16.50% for the storage type
hydro generating stations including pumped storage hydro generating stations and run
Provided that:
of 0.50 % shall be allowed, if such projects are completed within the timeline
specified in Appendix-I:
ii. the additional return of 0.5% shall not be admissible if the project is not
iii. additional RoE of 0.50% may be allowed if any element of the transmission
the particular element will benefit the system operation in the regional/national
grid:
61
iv. the rate of return of a new project shall be reduced by 1% for such period as may
any of the Restricted Governor Mode Operation (RGMO)/ Free Governor Mode
v. as and when any of the above requirements are found lacking in a generating
station based on the report submitted by the respective RLDC, RoE shall be
vi. additional RoE shall not be admissible for transmission line having length of less
than 50 kilometers.
(1) The base rate of return on equity as allowed by the Commission under
Regulation 24 shall be grossed up with the effective tax rate of the respective financial
year. For this purpose, the effective tax rate shall be considered on the basis of actual tax
paid in the respect of the financial year in line with the provisions of the relevant
Finance Acts by the concerned generating company or the transmission licensee, as the
case may be. The actual tax income on other income stream (i.e., income of non
generation or non transmission business, as the case may be) shall not be considered for
62
(2) Rate of return on equity shall be rounded off to three decimal places and shall be
Where t is the effective tax rate in accordance with Clause (1) of this regulation
and shall be calculated at the beginning of every financial year based on the
estimated profit and tax to be paid estimated in line with the provisions of the
relevant Finance Act applicable for that financial year to the company on pro-rata
as the case may be, and the corresponding tax thereon. In case of generating
Illustration.-
(b) Estimated Advance Tax for the year on above is Rs 240 crore.
63
(c) Effective Tax Rate for the year 2014-15 = Rs 240 Crore/Rs 1000 Crore =
24%
(3) The generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be,
shall true up the grossed up rate of return on equity at the end of every financial year
based on actual tax paid together with any additional tax demand including interest
thereon, duly adjusted for any refund of tax including interest received from the income
tax authorities pertaining to the tariff period 2014-15 to 2018-19 on actual gross income
of any financial year. However, penalty, if any, arising on account of delay in deposit or
short deposit of tax amount shall not be claimed by the generating company or the
grossed up rate on return on equity after truing up, shall be recovered or refunded to
beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers/DICs as the case may be on year
to year basis.
26. Interest on loan capital: (1) The loans arrived at in the manner indicated in
loan.
(2) The normative loan outstanding as on 1.4.2014 shall be worked out by deducting
64
the cumulative repayment as admitted by the Commission up to 31.3.2014 from the
(3) The repayment for each of the year of the tariff period 2014-19 shall be deemed to
be equal to the depreciation allowed for the corresponding year/period. In case of de-
cumulative repayment on a pro rata basis and the adjustment should not exceed
the transmission licensee, as the case may be, the repayment of loan shall be considered
from the first year of commercial operation of the project and shall be equal to the
(5) The rate of interest shall be the weighted average rate of interest calculated on
the basis of the actual loan portfolio after providing appropriate accounting adjustment
Provided that if there is no actual loan for a particular year but normative
loan is still outstanding, the last available weighted average rate of interest shall be
considered:
Provided further that if the generating station or the transmission system, as the
case may be, does not have actual loan, then the weighted average rate of interest of the
65
generating company or the transmission licensee as a whole shall be considered.
(6) The interest on loan shall be calculated on the normative average loan of the year
(7) The generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be, shall
make every effort to re-finance the loan as long as it results in net savings on interest
and in that event the costs associated with such re-financing shall be borne by the
beneficiaries and the net savings shall be shared between the beneficiaries and the
generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be, in the ratio of 2:1.
(8) The changes to the terms and conditions of the loans shall be reflected from the
(9) In case of dispute, any of the parties may make an application in accordance with
as amended from time to time, including statutory re-enactment thereof for settlement
of the dispute:
Provided that the beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers /DICs
shall not withhold any payment on account of the interest claimed by the generating
company or the transmission licensee during the pendency of any dispute arising out of
re-financing of loan.
66
27. Depreciation: (1) Depreciation shall be computed from the date of commercial
communication system or element thereof. In case of the tariff of all the units of a
system for which a single tariff needs to be determined, the depreciation shall be
computed from the effective date of commercial operation of the generating station or
the tranmission system taking into consideration the depreciation of individual units or
elements thereof.
considering the actual date of commercial operation and installed capacity of all the
units of the generating station or capital cost of all elements of the transmission system,
(2) The value base for the purpose of depreciation shall be the capital cost of the
multiple elements of transmission system, weighted average life for the generating
from the first year of commercial operation. In case of commercial operation of the asset
for part of the year, depreciation shall be charged on pro rata basis.
(3) The salvage value of the asset shall be considered as 10% and depreciation shall
67
be allowed up to maximum of 90% of the capital cost of the asset:
Provided that in case of hydro generating station, the salvage value shall be as
provided in the agreement signed by the developers with the State Government for
Provided further that the capital cost of the assets of the hydro generating station
for the purpose of computation of depreciated value shall correspond to the percentage
of the generating station or generating unit or transmission system as the case may be,
shall not be allowed to be recovered at a later stage during the useful life and the
extended life.
(4) Land other than the land held under lease and the land for reservoir in case of
hydro generating station shall not be a depreciable asset and its cost shall be excluded
from the capital cost while computing depreciable value of the asset.
(5) Depreciation shall be calculated annually based on Straight Line Method and at
rates specified in Appendix-II to these regulations for the assets of the generating
Provided that the remaining depreciable value as on 31st March of the year
closing after a period of 12 years from the effective date of commercial operation of the
station shall be spread over the balance useful life of the assets.
68
(6) In case of the existing projects, the balance depreciable value as on
the Commission upto 31.3.2014 from the gross depreciable value of the assets.
(7) The generating company or the transmission license, as the case may be, shall
submit the details of proposed capital expenditure during the fag end of the project
(five years before the useful life) alongwith justification and proposed life extension.
The Commission based on prudence check of such submissions shall approve the
adjusted by taking into account the depreciation recovered in tariff by the decapitalized
28. Interest on Working Capital :(1) The working capital shall cover:
(i) Cost of coal or lignite and limestone towards stock, if applicable, for 15 days for
pit-head generating stations and 30 days for non-pit-head generating stations for
69
(ii) Cost of coal or lignite and limestone for 30 days for generation corresponding to
(iii) Cost of secondary fuel oil for two months for generation corresponding to the
normative annual plant availability factor, and in case of use of more than one
secondary fuel oil, cost of fuel oil stock for the main secondary fuel oil;
regulation 29;
(v) Receivables equivalent to two months of capacity charges and energy charges
for sale of electricity calculated on the normative annual plant availability factor;
and
(i) Fuel cost for 30 days corresponding to the normative annual plant availability
factor, duly taking into account mode of operation of the generating station on gas
(ii) Liquid fuel stock for 15 days corresponding to the normative annual plant
availability factor, and in case of use of more than one liquid fuel, cost of main liquid
fuel duly taking into account mode of operation of the generating stations of gas fuel
70
Regulation 29;
(iv) Receivables equivalent to two months of capacity charge and energy charge for
sale of electricity calculated on normative plant availability factor, duly taking into
account mode of operation of the generating station on gas fuel and liquid fuel; and
(c) Hydro generating station including pumped storage hydro electric generating
(2) The cost of fuel in cases covered under sub-clauses (a) and (b) of clause (1) of this
regulation shall be based on the landed cost incurred (taking into account normative
transit and handling losses) by the generating company and gross calorific value of the
fuel as per actual for the three months preceding the first month for which tariff is to be
determined and no fuel price escalation shall be provided during the tariff period.
(3) Rate of interest on working capital shall be on normative basis and shall be
considered as the bank rate as on 1.4.2014 or as on 1st April of the year during the tariff
period 2014-15 to 2018-19 in which the generating station or a unit thereof or the
71
transmission system including communication system or element thereof, as the case
that the generating company or the transmission licensee has not taken loan for
shall be as follows:
(a) Coal based and lignite fired (including those based on Circulating Fluidised
(in Rs Lakh/MW)
72
Provided that the norms shall be multiplied by the following factors for arriving
at norms of O&M expenses for additional units in respective unit sizes for the units
(b) Talcher Thermal Power Station (TPS), Tanda TPS, Badarpur TPS Unit 1 to 3 of
NTPC and Chandrapura TPS Unit 1 to 3 and Durgapur TPS Unit 1 of DVC:
(in Rs Lakh/MW)
(Unit 1)
73
(c) Open Cycle Gas Turbine/Combined Cycle generating stations:
(in Rs Lakh/MW)
(in Rs Lakh/MW)
74
2018-19 37.15 48.66
2014-15 29.10
2015-16 30.94
2016-17 32.88
2017-18 34.95
2018-19 37.15
(2) The Water Charges and capital spares for thermal generating stations shall be
allowed separately:
depending upon type of plant, type of cooling water system etc., subject to prudence
check. The details regarding the same shall be furnished along with the petition:
Provided that the generating station shall submit the details of year wise actual
capital spares consumed at the time of truing up with appropriate justification for
incurring the same and substantiating that the same is not funded through
75
(a) Following operations and maintenance expense norms shall be applicable for
hydro generating stations which have been operational for three or more years as
on 01.04.2014:
(in Rs lakh)
D. NHDC
1 Indira Sagar 8607.73 9179.63 9789.52 10439.94 11133.57
2 Omkareshwar 4515.31 4815.30 5135.23 5476.42 5840.27
E. NEEPCO
1 Kopili I 6132.72 6540.18 6974.71 7438.11 7932.3
2 Ranganadi 7033.08 7500.36 7998.68 8530.12 9096.86
3 Doyang 3900.10 4159.22 4435.56 4730.26 5044.54
4 Khandong 1233.87 1317.89 1405.45 1498.82 1598.41
5 Kopili II 321.00 342.33 365.07 389.32 415.19
F. DVC
1 Panchet 1546.42 1649.17 1758.74 1875.59 2000.20
2 Tilaiya 698.99 745.43 794.95 847.77 904.10
76
Sr. Name of 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
No Station
3 Maithon 1914.46 2041.66 2177.31 2321.97 2476.24
(b) for hydro generating stations of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) and
basis of actual operation and maintenance expenses for the years 2008-09 to 2012-
13, based on the audited balance sheets, excluding abnormal operation and
prudence check, for the years 2008-09 to 2012-13, shall be escalated at the rate of
average operation and maintenance expenses for the 2008-09 to 2012-13 at 2012-
2012-13 price level shall be escalated at the rate of 6.04% to arrive at the operation
and maintenance expenses for year 2013-14 and thereafter escalated at the rate of
6.64% p.a., to arrive at the O&M expenses for the period FY 2014-15 to FY 2018-
19.
(c) In case of the hydro generating stations, which have not been in commercial
77
operation for a period of three years as on 1.4.2014, operation and maintenance
rehabilitation and resettlement works) for the first year of commercial operation.
commercial operation shall be escalated @6.04% per annum up to the year 2013-
14 and then averaged to arrive at the O&M expenses at 2013-14 price level. It
(d) In case of the hydro generating stations declared under commercial operation on
2.50% of the original project cost (excluding cost of rehabilitation & resettlement
works) for first year of commercial operation for stations less than 200 MW
projects and for stations more than 200 MW respectively and shall be subject to
78
Norms for sub-stations 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
(in Rs Lakh per bay)
220 kV 42.21 43.61 45.06 46.55 48.10
79
Provided that operation and maintenance expenses for new HVDC bi-pole
scheme for a particular year shall be allowed pro-rata on the basis of normative rate
of operation and maintenance expense for 2000 MW, Talcher-Kolar HVDC bi-pole
Provided further that the O&M expenses norms for HVDC bi-pole line shall be
(b) The total allowable operation and maintenance expenses for the transmission
system shall be calculated by multiplying the number of bays and kms of line length
with the applicable norms for the operation and maintenance expenses per bay and per
km respectively.
(c) The operation and maintenance expenses of communication system forming part
of inter-state transmission system shall be derived on the basis of the actual O&M
expenses for the period of 2008-09 to 2012-13 based on audited accounts excluding
abnormal variations if any after prudence check by the Commission. The normalised
O&M expenses after prudence check, for the years 2008-09 to 2012-13 shall be escalated
at the rate of 3.02% for computing base year expenses for FY 2012-13 and 2013-14 and at
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CHAPTER 7
30. Computation and Payment of Capacity Charge and Energy Charge for
(1) The fixed cost of a thermal generating station shall be computed on annual basis,
based on norms specified under these regulations, and recovered on monthly basis
under capacity charge. The total capacity charge payable for a generating station shall
be shared by its beneficiaries as per their respective percentage share / allocation in the
(2) The capacity charge payable to a thermal generating station for a calendar
(CC1+CC2+CC3)
81
CC5 = ((AFC x 5/12) ( PAF5 / NAPAF ) subject to ceiling of (AFC x 5/12))
+CC3+CC4 + CC5)
or an element thereof, as the case may be, under shutdown due to Renovation and
82
Modernisation, the generating company or the transmission licensee shall be allowed to
recover part of AFC which shall include O&M expenses and interest on loan only.
Where,
percentage.
Year
CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4, CC5, CC6, CC7, CC8, CC9, CC10, CC11 and CC12 are the Capacity
Charges of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th months respectively.
(3) The PAFM upto the end of a particular month and PAFY shall be computed in
i=1
Where,
83
DCi = Average declared capacity (in ex-bus MW), for the ith day of the period i.e.
the month or the year as the case may be, as certified by the concerned load
Note: DCi and IC shall exclude the capacity of generating units not declared under
(4) Incentive to a generating station or unit thereof shall be payable at a flat rate of
(5) The energy charge shall cover the primary and secondary fuel cost and limestone
consumption cost (where applicable), and shall be payable by every beneficiary for the
total energy scheduled to be supplied to such beneficiary during the calendar month on
ex-power plant basis, at the energy charge rate of the month (with fuel and limestone
price adjustment). Total Energy charge payable to the generating company for a month
shall be:
84
(Energy charge rate in Rs./kWh) x {Scheduled energy (ex-bus) for the month in
kWh.}
(6) Energy charge rate (ECR) in Rupees per kWh on ex-power plant basis shall be
(100 AUX)
Where,
CVPF=(a) Weighted Average Gross calorific value of coal as received, in kCal per
in kCal per kg, per litre or per standard cubic meter, as applicable for
85
ECR = Energy charge rate, in Rupees per kWh sent out.
LPPF =Weighted average landed price of primary fuel, in Rupees per kg, per litre
or per standard cubic metre, as applicable, during the month. (In case of
blending of fuel from different sources, the weighted average landed price of
month
Provided that energy charge rate for a gas/liquid fuel based station shall be
respective Regional Power Committee for the open cycle operation during the month.
(7) The generating company shall provide to the beneficiaries of the generating
station the details of parameters of GCV and price of fuel i.e. domestic coal, imported
coal, e-auction coal, lignite, natural gas, RLNG, liquid fuel etc., as per the forms
Provided that the details of blending ratio of the imported coal with domestic
coal, proportion of e-auction coal and the weighted average GCV of the fuels as
received shall also be provided separately, along with the bills of the respective month:
86
Provided further that copies of the bills and details of parameters of GCV and
price of fuel i.e. domestic coal, imported coal, e-auction coal, lignite, natural gas, RLNG,
liquid fuel etc., details of blending ratio of the imported coal with domestic coal,
proportion of e-auction coal shall also be displayed on the website of the generating
company. The details should be available on its website on monthly basis for a period of
three months.
(8) The landed cost of fuel for the month shall include price of fuel corresponding to
the grade and quality of fuel inclusive of royalty, taxes and duties as applicable,
transportation cost by rail / road or any other means, and, for the purpose of
considering normative transit and handling losses as percentage of the quantity of coal
or lignite dispatched by the coal or lignite supply company during the month as given
below:
Provided that in case of pit head stations if coal or lignite is procured from
sources other than the pit head mines which is transported to the station through rail,
Provided further that in case of imported coal, the transit and handling losses
shall be 0.2%.
87
(9) The landed price of limestone shall be taken based on procurement price of
limestone for the generating station, inclusive of royalty, taxes and duties as applicable
(10) In case of part or full use of alternative source of fuel supply by coal based
thermal generating stations other than as agreed by the generating company and
the use of alternative source of fuel supply shall be permitted to generating station:
Provided that in such case, prior permission from beneficiaries shall not be a pre-
Provided further that the weighted average price of use of alternative source of
fuel shall not exceed 30% of base price of fuel computed as per clause (11) of this
regulation:
Provided also that where the energy charge rate based on weighted average price
of use of fuel including alternative source of fuel exceeds 30% of base energy charge rate
as approved by the Commission for that year or energy charge rate based on weighted
average price of use of fuel including alternative sources of fuel exceeds 20% of energy
charge rate based on based on weighted average fuel price for the previous month,
whichever is lower shall be considered and in that event, prior consultation with
88
(11) The Commission through the specific tariff orders to be issued for each
generating station shall approve the energy charge rate at the start of the tariff period.
The energy charge so approved shall be the base energy charge rate at the start of the
tariff period. The base energy charge rate for subsequent years shall be the energy
charge computed after escalating the base energy charge rate approved at the start of
the tariff period by escalation rates for payment purposes as notified by the
(12) The tariff structure as provided in this regulation may be adopted by the
Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India for the nuclear generating stations
by specifying annual fixed cost (AFC), normative annual plant availability factor
(NAPAF), installed capacity (IC), normative auxiliary power consumption (AUX) and
31. Computation and Payment of Capacity charge and Energy Charge for
(1) The fixed cost of a hydro generating station shall be computed on annual basis,
based on norms specified under these regulations, and shall be recovered on monthly
basis under capacity charge (inclusive of incentive) and energy charge, which shall be
capacity of the generating station, i.e., in the capacity excluding the free power to the
home State:
89
Provided that during the period between the date of commercial operation of the
first unit of the generating station and the date of commercial operation of the
generating station, the annual fixed cost shall provisionally be worked out based on the
latest estimate of the completion cost for the generating station, for the purpose of
determining the capacity charge and energy charge payment during such period.
Where,
formula :
i=1
Where
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AUX = Normative auxiliary energy consumption in percentage
DCi = Declared capacity (in ex-bus MW) for the ith day of the
month which the station can deliver for at least three (3)
hours, as certified by the nodal load dispatch centre after
the day is over.
IC = Installed capacity (in MW) of the complete generating
station
N = Number of days in the month
(4) The energy charge shall be payable by every beneficiary for the total energy
scheduled to be supplied to the beneficiary, excluding free energy, if any, during the
calendar month, on ex power plant basis, at the computed energy charge rate. Total
Energy charge payable to the generating company for a month shall be:
(Energy charge rate in Rs. / kWh) x {Scheduled energy (ex-bus) for the month in
(5) Energy charge rate (ECR) in Rupees per kWh on ex-power plant basis, for a
hydro generating station, shall be determined up to three decimal places based on the
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Where,
FEHS = Free energy for home State, in per cent, as defined in Regulation 42.
(6) In case the actual total energy generated by a hydro generating station during
a year is less than the design energy for reasons beyond the control of the generating
(a) In case the energy shortfall occurs within ten years from the date of commercial
operation of a generating station, the ECR for the year following the year of energy
shortfall shall be computed based on the formula specified in clause (5) with the
modification that the DE for the year shall be considered as equal to the actual energy
generated during the year of the shortfall, till the energy charge shortfall of the previous
year has been made up, after which normal ECR shall be applicable:
Provided that in case actual generation form a hydro generating station is less
than the design energy for a continuous period of 4 years on account of hydrology
factor, the generating station shall approach CEA with relevant hydrology data for
(b) In case the energy shortfall occurs after ten years from the date of commercial
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operation of a generating station, the following shall apply.
Explanation : Suppose the specified annual design energy for the station is DE MWh,
and the actual energy generated during the concerned (first) and the following (second)
financial years is A1 and A2 MWh respectively, A1 being less than DE. Then, the design
energy to be considered in the formula in clause (5) of these regulations for calculating
the ECR for the third financial year shall be moderated as (A1 + A2 DE) MWh, subject
(c) Actual energy generated (e.g. A1, A2) shall be arrived at by multiplying the net
metered energy sent out from the station by 100 / (100 AUX).
(7) In case the energy charge rate (ECR) for a hydro generating station, computed
as per clause (5) of this regulation exceeds ninety paise per kWh, and the actual
MWh, the Energy charge for the energy in excess of the above shall be billed at
Provided that in a year following a year in which total energy generated was less
than the design energy for reasons beyond the control of the generating company, the
energy charge rate shall be reduced to ninety paise per kWh after the energy charge
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(8) In case of the hydro generating stations located in the State of Jammu and
Kashmir, any expenditure incurred for payment of water usage charges to the State
Water Resources Development Authority, Jammu under Jammu & Kashmir Water
beneficiaries as additional energy charge in proportion of the supply of power from the
Provided further that the provisions of this clause shall be subject to the decision
of the Honble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir in OWP No. 604/2011 and shall stand
(1) The fixed cost of a pumped storage hydro generating station shall be computed
on annual basis, based on norms specified under these regulations, and recovered on
monthly basis as capacity charge. The capacity charge shall be payable by the
generating station, i..e, the capacity excluding the free power to the home State:
Provided that during the period between the date of commercial operation of the
first unit of the generating station and the date of commercial operation of the
generating station, the annual fixed cost shall be worked out based on the latest
estimate of the completion cost for the generating station, for the purpose of
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(2) The capacity charge payable to a pumped storage hydro generating station for a
(AFC x NDM / NDY) (in Rupees), if actual Generation during the month is >= 75
% of the Pumping Energy consumed by the station during the month and
{(AFC x NDM / NDY) x (Actual Generation during the month during peak
hours/ 75% of the Pumping Energy consumed by the station during the month)
(in Rupees)}, if actual Generation during the month is < 75 % of the Pumping
Where,
Provided that there would be adjustment at the end of the year based on actual
generation and actual pumping energy consumed by the station during the year.
(3) The energy charge shall be payable by every beneficiary for the total energy
scheduled to be supplied to the beneficiary in excess of the design energy plus 75% of
the energy utilized in pumping the water from the lower elevation reservoir to the
higher elevation reservoir, at a flat rate equal to the average energy charge rate of 20
paise per kWh, excluding free energy, if any, during the calendar month, on ex power
plant basis.
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(4) Energy charge payable to the generating company for a month shall be:
= 0.20 x {Scheduled energy (ex-bus) for the month in kWh (Design Energy for
the month (DEm) + 75% of the energy utilized in pumping the water from the
lower elevation reservoir to the higher elevation reservoir of the month)} x (100
FEHS) / 100.
Where,
DEm = Design energy for the month specified for the hydro generating station,
in MWh
FEHS = Free energy for home State, in per cent, as defined in regulation 42, if
any.
Provided that in case the Scheduled energy in a month is less than the Design
Energy for the month plus 75% of the energy utilized in pumping the water from the
lower elevation reservoir to the higher elevation reservoir of the month, then the energy
(5) The generating company shall maintain the record of daily inflows of natural
water into the upper elevation reservoir and the reservoir levels of upper elevation
reservoir and lower elevation reservoir on hourly basis. The generator shall be required
to maximize the peak hour supplies with the available water including the natural flow
valid reason, is not pumping water from lower elevation reservoir to the higher
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elevation during off-peak period or not generating power to its potential or wasting
natural flow of water, the capacity charges of the day shall not be payable by the
beneficiary. For this purpose, outages of the unit(s)/station including planned outages
and the forced outages up to 15% in a year shall be construed as the valid reason for not
pumping water from lower elevation reservoir to the higher elevation during off-peak
period or not generating power using energy of pumped water or natural flow of water:
Provided that the total capacity charges recovered during the year shall be
adjusted on pro-rata basis in the following manner in the event of total machine outages
Where,
ATO - Total Outages in percentage for the year including forced and planned
outages
Provided further that the generating station shall be required to declare its
machine availability daily on day ahead basis for all the time blocks of the day in line
(6) The concerned Load Despatch Centre shall finalise the schedules for the
utilization of all the energy declared to be available, which shall be scheduled for all
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beneficiaries in proportion to their respective allocations in the generating station.
Transmission System:
(1) The fixed cost of the transmission system or communication system forming part
basis as transmission charge from the users, who shall share these charges in the
(2) The Transmission charge (inclusive of incentive) payable for a calendar month
For AC system:
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a) For TAFM < 95%
Where,
(3) The transmission charges shall be calculated separately for part of the
34. Deviation Charges: (1) Variations between actual net injection and scheduled net
injection for the generating stations, and variations between actual net drawal and
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scheduled net drawal for the beneficiaries shall be treated as their respective deviations
and charges for such deviations shall be governed by the Central Electricity Regulatory
(2) Actual net deviation of every Generating Stations and Beneficiaries shall be
metered on its periphery through special energy meters (SEMs) installed by the Central
Transmission Utility (CTU), and computed in MWh for each 15-minute time block by
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CHAPTER - 8
NORMS OF OPERATION
35. (1) Recovery of capacity charge, energy charge, transmission charge and incentive
by the generating company and the transmission licensee shall be based on the
(2) The Commission may on its own revise the norms of Station Heat Rate specified
in Regulation 36 in respect of any of the generating stations for which relaxed norms
36. The norms of operation as given hereunder shall apply to thermal generating
stations:
Provided that in view of shortage of coal and uncertainty of assured coal supply
on sustained basis experienced by the generating stations, the NAPAF for recovery of
The above provision shall be reviewed based on actual feedback after 3 years
from 01.04.2014.
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(b) Following Lignite-fired Thermal generating stations of Neyveli
TPS-I 72%
rejects
(a) All thermal generating stations, except those covered under clauses (b), (c)
- 85%
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(b) Following Lignite-fired Thermal generating stations of Neyveli Lignite
Corporation Ltd :
TPS I 75%
(DVC):
(i) Existing Coal-based Thermal Generating Stations, other than those covered
2
Note 1
In respect of 500 MW and above units where the boiler feed pumps are electrically
operated, the gross station heat rate shall be 40 kCal/kWh lower than the gross station
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Note 2
For the generating stations having combination of 200/210/250 MW sets and 500 MW
and above sets, the normative gross station heat rate shall be the weighted average
For lignite-fired thermal generating stations, except for TPS-I and TPS-II (Stage I
& II) of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, the gross station heat rates specified
under sub-clause (i) for coal-based thermal generating stations shall be applied
(d) For other values of moisture content, multiplying factor shall be pro-rated
for moisture content between 30-40% and 40-50% depending upon the
104
rated values of multiplying factor for the respective range given under
(v) TPS-I and TPS-II (Stage I & II) of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd :
105
(b) New Thermal Generating Station achieving COD on or after 1.4.2014
Where the Design Heat Rate of a generating unit means the unit heat rate
guaranteed by the supplier at conditions of 100% MCR, zero percent make up,
Provided that the design heat rate shall not exceed the following
maximum design unit heat rates depending upon the pressure and temperature
Provided further that in case pressure and temperature parameters of a unit are
different from above ratings, the maximum design unit heat rate of the nearest class
shall be taken:
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Provided also that where unit heat rate has not been guaranteed but turbine
cycle heat rate and boiler efficiency are guaranteed separately by the same supplier or
different suppliers, the unit design heat rate shall be arrived at by using guaranteed
Provided also that where the boiler efficiency is below 86% for Sub-bituminous
Indian coal and 89% for bituminous imported coal, the same shall be considered as 86%
and 89% respectively for Sub-bituminous Indian coal and bituminous imported coal for
Provided also that maximum turbine cycle heat rate shall be adjusted for type of
Provided also that if one or more generating units were declared under
commercial operation prior to 1.4.2014, the heat rate norms for those generating units as
well as generating units declared under commercial operation on or after 1.4.2014 shall
be lower of the heat rate norms arrived at by above methodology and the norms as per
based on CFBC technology), maximum design heat rates shall be increased using factor
Provided also that for Generating stations based on coal rejects, the Commission
Note: In respect of generating units where the boiler feed pumps are electrically
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operated, the maximum design unit heat rate shall be 40 kCal/kWh lower than the maximum
design unit heat rate specified above with turbine driven BFP.
(c) Thermal Generating Station having COD on or after 1.4.2009 till 31.03.2014
Where the Design Heat Rate of a generating unit means the unit heat rate guaranteed by the
supplier at conditions of 100% MCR, zero percent make up, design coal and design cooling water
temperature/back pressure.
Provided that the heat rate norms computed as per above shall be limited to the heat rate
or after 01.04.2009.
= 1.05 X Design Heat Rate of the unit/block for Natural Gas and
RLNG (kCal/kWh)
= 1.071 X Design Heat Rate of the unit/block for Liquid Fuel (kCal/kWh)
Where the Design Heat Rate of a unit shall mean the guaranteed heat rate for a unit
at 100% MCR and at site ambient conditions; and the Design Heat Rate of a block shall
mean the guaranteed heat rate for a block at 100% MCR, site ambient conditions, zero
Provided that the heat rate norms computed as per above shall be limited to the heat rate
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(D) Secondary fuel oil consumption
(a) Coal-based generating stations other than at (c) below : 0.50 ml/kWh
1.00ml/kWh
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Provided further that for thermal generating stations with induced draft
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(d) Lignite-fired thermal generating stations:
The auxiliary energy consumption norms shall be 0.5 percentage point more than
the auxiliary energy consumption norms of coal-based generating stations at (E) (a)
above.
Provided that for the lignite fired stations using CFBC technology, the auxiliary
energy consumption norms shall be 1.5 percentage point more than the auxiliary energy
(iii) TPS-I, TPS-I (Expansion) and TPS-II Stage-I&II of Neyveli Lignite Corporation
Ltd.:
TPS-I 12.00%
TPS-II 10.00%
(iv) Lime stone consumption for lignite-based generating station using CFBC
technology:
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37. Norms of operation for hydro generating stations: (1) The following Normative
annual plant availability factor (NAPAF) shall apply to hydro generating station:
(a) Storage and Pondage type plants with head variation between Full Reservoir
Level (FRL) and Minimum Draw Down Level (MDDL) of up to 8%, and where
(b) In case of storage and pondage type plants with head variation between full
reservoir level and minimum draw down level is more than 8% and when plant
availability is not affected by silt, the month wise peaking capability as provided
(c) Pondage type plants where plant availability is significantly affected by silt: 85%.
under special circumstances, e.g. abnormal silt problem or other operating conditions,
(3) A further allowance of 5% may be allowed for difficulties in North East Region.
(4) Based on the above, the Normative annual plant availability factor (NAPAF) of
the hydro generating stations already in operation shall be as follows :-
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Station Type of Plant Plant Capacity NAPAF
No. of Units x MW (%)
Loktak Storage 3 x 35 85
Chamera-II Pondage 3 x 100 90
Chamera III Pondage 3x77 85
Rangit Pondage 3 x 20 90
Dhauliganga Pondage 4 x 70 90
Teesta V Pondage 3 x 170 85
Dulhasti Pondage 3 x 130 90
Salal ROR 6 x 115 60
SewaII Pondage 3 x 40 85
Uri ROR 4 x 120 70
Tanakpur ROR 3 x 31.4 55
Chutak ROR 4x11 50
NimooBazgo Pondage 3x15 65
TeestaLowDam
Project -III Pondage 4x33 85
Uri-II Pondage 4x60 55
NHDC
Indirasagar Storage 8 x 125 85
Omkareshwar Pondage 8 x 65 90
THDC
Tehri Storage 4 x 250 77
Koteshwar Storage 4x100 67
SJVNL
NathpaJhakri Pondage 6 x 250 90
NEEPCO
KopiliStg 1 Storage 4 x 50 79
Khandong Storage 2 x 25 69
Kopili Stg. 2 Storage 1 x 25 69
Doyang Storage 3 x 25 73
Ranganadi Pondage 3 x 135 85
DVC
Panchet Storage 2 x 40 80
Tilaiya Storage 2x2 80
Maithon Storage 3 x 20 80
(5) In case of Pumped storage hydro generating stations, the quantum of electricity
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required for pumping water from down-stream reservoir to up-stream reservoir shall
be arranged by the beneficiaries duly taking into account the transmission and
distribution losses etc. up to the bus bar of the generating station. In return,
pumping the water from the lower elevation reservoir to the higher elevation reservoir
from the generating station during peak hours and the generating station shall be under
Provided that in the event of the beneficiaries failing to supply the desired level
of energy during off-peak hours, there will be pro-rata reduction in their energy
Provided further that the beneficiaries may assign or surrender their share of
capacity in the generating station, in part or in full, or the capacity may be reallocated
by the Central Government, and in that event, the owner or assignee of the capacity
share shall be responsible for arranging the equivalent energy to the generating station
in off-peak hours, and be entitled to corresponding energy during peak hours in the
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(b) Underground hydro generating stations
shall be as under:
Provided that for new HVDC stations, NATAF shall be considered as 95% for
99.75%:
Provided also that for AC system, two trippings per year shall be allowed. After
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factor of 2.
(a) AC System
The charges for such power shall be borne by the transmission licensee
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CHAPTER - 9
SCHEDULING, ACCOUNTING AND BILLING
40. Scheduling: The methodology for scheduling and dispatch for the generating
41. Metering and Accounting: The provisions of the Grid Code shall be applicable.
42. Billing and Payment of charges: (1) Bills shall be raised for capacity charge,
energy charge and the transmission charge on monthly basis by the generating
company and the transmission licensee in accordance with these regulations, and
payments shall be made by the beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers
/DICs directly to the generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case
may be.
(2) Payment of the capacity charge for a thermal generating station shall be shared
by the beneficiaries of the generating station as per their percentage shares for the
month (inclusive of any allocation out of the unallocated capacity) in the installed
capacity of the generating station. Payment of capacity charge and energy charge for a
hydro generating station shall be shared by the beneficiaries of the generating station
capacity) in the saleable capacity (to be determined after deducting the capacity
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corresponding to free energy to home State as per Note 3 herein.
Note 1
Shares / allocations of each beneficiary in the total capacity of Central sector generating
made out of the unallocated capacity. The shares shall be applied in percentages of
installed capacity and shall normally remain constant during a month. Based on the
the Member-Secretary, Regional Power Committee in advance, at least three days prior
beneficiary would be sum of its capacity share plus allocation out of the unallocated
portion. In the absence of any specific allocation of unallocated power by the Central
Government, the unallocated power shall be added to the allocated shares in the same
Note 2
The beneficiaries may propose surrendering part of their allocated firm share to other
States within / outside the region. In such cases, depending upon the technical
company with other States within/ outside the region for such transfers, the shares of
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specific period (in complete months) from the beginning of a calendar month. When
such re-allocations are made, the beneficiaries who surrender the share shall not be
liable to pay capacity charges for the surrendered share. The capacity charges for the
capacity surrendered and reallocated as above shall be paid by the State(s) to whom
the surrendered capacity is allocated. Except for the period of reallocation of capacity
as above, the beneficiaries of the generating station shall continue to pay the full
capacity charges as per allocated capacity shares. Any such reallocation and its
Note 3
FEHS = Free energy for home State, in percent and shall be taken as 13% or actual
whichever is less.
bidding, the free energy shall be taken as 13%, in addition to energy corresponding
to 100 units of electricity to be provided free of cost every month to every project
affected family for a period of 10 years from the date of commercial operation of the
generating station:
cost every month to every month to every project affected family for a period of 10
119
years from the date of commercial operation.
43. Sharing of Transmission Charges: (1) The sharing of transmission charges shall be
forming part of transmission system shall be shared by the beneficiaries or long term
system other than central transmission system shall be shared by the beneficiaries in
44. Rebate. (1) For payment of bills of the generating company and the transmission
(2) Where payments are made on any day after 2 days and within a period of 30
45. Late payment surcharge: In case the payment of any bill for charges payable
120
under these regulations is delayed by a beneficiary of long term transmission
customer/DICs as the case may be, beyond a period of 60 days from the date of billing,
a late payment surcharge at the rate of 1.50% per month shall be levied by the
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CHAPTER 10
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
46. Sharing of CDM Benefits: The proceeds of carbon credit from approved CDM
(a) 100% of the gross proceeds on account of CDM to be retained by the project
developer in the first year after the date of commercial operation of the generating
(b) In the second year, the share of the beneficiaries shall be 10% which shall be
progressively increased by 10% every year till it reaches 50%, whereafter the proceeds
47. Norms to be ceiling norms: Norms specified in these regulations are the ceiling
norms and shall not preclude the generating company or the transmission licensee, as
the case may be, and the beneficiaries and the long-term transmission customers /DICs
from agreeing to the improved norms and in case the improved norms are agreed to,
48. Deviation from norms: (1) Tariff for sale of electricity by the generating
company or for transmission charges of the transmission licensee, as the case may be,
may also be determined in deviation of the norms specified in these regulations subject
122
to the conditions that :
(a) The levelised tariff over the useful life of the project on the basis of the norms in
deviation does not exceed the levelised tariff calculated on the basis of the norms
(b) Any deviation shall come into effect only after approval by the Commission, for
Explanation.- For the purpose of calculating the levelised tariff referred to in sub-
clause(a) of clause (1), the discounting factor shall be as notified by the Commission
(2) The tariff of the existing generating stations of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd,
namely, TPS-I and TPS-II (Stage I & II) and TPS-I (Expansion) and Badarpur TPS of
NTPC Ltd., whose tariff for the tariff periods 2004-09 and 2009-14 has been determined
49. Deferred Tax liability with respect to previous tariff period: The deferred tax
liability before 1.4.2009 shall be recovered from the beneficiaries or the long term
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transmission customers/DICs as the case may be, as and when the same gets
materialised. No claim on account of deferred tax liability arising from 1.4.2009 upto
31.03.2014 shall be made from the beneficiaries or the long term transmission
(1) The generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be, may
hedge foreign exchange exposure in respect of the interest on foreign currency loan and
repayment of foreign loan acquired for the generating station or the transmission
system, in part or in full in the discretion of the generating company or the transmission
licensee.
(2) As and when the petitioner enters into any hedging based on its approved
hedging policy, the petitioner should communicate to the beneficiaries concerned about
its hedging decision within thirty days of entering into such hedging transaction(s).
(3) Every generating company and transmission licensee shall recover the cost of
hedging of foreign exchange rate variation corresponding to the normative foreign debt,
in the relevant year on year-to-year basis as expense in the period in which it arises and
extra rupee liability corresponding to such foreign exchange rate variation shall not be
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(4) To the extent the generating company or the transmission licensee is not able to
hedge the foreign exchange exposure, the extra rupee liability towards interest payment
and loan repayment corresponding to the normative foreign currency loan in the
(5) Every generating company and the transmission licensee shall recover the cost of
hedging and foreign exchange rate variation on year-to-year basis as income or expense
(1) Recovery of cost of hedging or foreign exchange rate variation shall be made
directly by the generating company or the transmission licensee, as the case may be,
from the beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers /DICs, as the case may
Provided that in case of any objections by the beneficiaries or the long term
transmission customers /DICs, as the case may be, to the amounts claimed on account
of cost of hedging or foreign exchange rate variation, the generating company or the
transmission licensee, as the case may be, may make an appropriate application before
125
52. Application fee and the publication expenses: The following fees, charges and
expenses shall be reimbursed directly by the beneficiary in the manner specified herein:
(1) The application filing fee and the expenses incurred on publication of notices in
the application for approval of tariff, may in the discretion of the Commission, be
case may be, directly from the beneficiaries or the long term transmission customers
(2) The following fees and charges shall be reimbursed directly by the beneficiaries
(a) Fees and charges paid by the generating companies and inter-State transmission
Centre and other related matters) Regulations, 2009, as amended from time to time or
126
(b) Licence fees paid by the inter-State transmission licensees (including the deemed
thereof;
(c) Licence fees paid by NHPC Ltd to the State Water Resources Development
Authority, Jammu in accordance with the provisions of Jammu & Kashmir Water
(3) The Commission may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing and after hearing
the affected parties, allow reimbursement of any fee or expenses, as may be considered
necessary.
clause (2), this regulation shall apply to determination of tariff of the projects owned by
(2) The following special provisions shall apply for determination of tariff of the
(i) Capital Cost: The expenditure allocated to the object power, in terms of
sections 32 and 33 of the Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948, to the extent of
its apportionment to generation and inter-state transmission, shall form the basis
127
of capital cost for the purpose of determination of tariff:
offices, administrative and technical centers of DVC, after due prudence check,
(ii) Debt Equity Ratio: The debt equity ratio of all projects of DVC
projects of DVC.
(iv) Funds under section 40 of the Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948: The
tariff.
(3) The provisions in clause (2) of this regulation shall be subject to the decision of
the Honble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No 4289 of 2008 and other related appeals
pending in the Honble Court and shall stand modified to the extent they are
128
54. Power to Relax. The Commission, for reasons to be recorded in writing, may
relax any of the provisions of these regulations on its own motion or on an application
If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of these regulations, the
Commission may, by order, make such provision not inconsistent with the provisions of
the Act or provisions of other regulations specified by the Commission, as may appear
to be necessary for removing the difficulty in giving effect to the objectives of these
regulations.
-Sd-
M.K.Anand
Chief (Finance)
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Appendix-I
1. The completion time schedule shall be reckoned from the date of investment
approval by the Board (of the generating company or the transmission licensee), or
the CCEA clearance as the case may be, up to the date of commercial operation of
the units or block or element of transmission project as applicable.
2. The time schedule has been indicated in months in the following paragraphs and
tables:
A. Thermal Power Projects
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Unit size 500/600 MW
(a) 44 months for green field projects. Subsequent units at an interval of 6 months
each.
(b) 42 months for extension projects. Subsequent units at an interval of 6 months
each.
131
C. Transmission Schemes
Qualifying time schedules in months
Sr. Transmission Work Plain Hilly Snowbound
No. Area Terrain area/@very
(months) (months) difficult
Terrain
(months)
a 765 kV S/C Transmission line 36 42 46
b 765 kV D/C Transmission line 40 46 50
c +/-500 KV HVDC 30 36 40
Transmission line
d 400 KV M/C Quad or more 40 46 50
sub-conductor Transmission
line
e 400 KV M/C Twin/Triple 38 44 48
Transmission line
f 400 KV D/C Quad 38 44 48
Transmission line
g 400 KV D/C Triple 36 42 46
Transmission line
h 400 KV D/C Twin 34 40 44
Transmission line
i 400 KV S/C Six or more sub- 36 42 46
conductor Transmission line
j 400 KV S/C Twin 30 36 40
Transmission line
k 220 KV D/C Twin 34 40 44
Transmission line
l 220 KV D/C Transmission line 30 36 40
132
Sr. Transmission Work Plain Hilly Snowbound
No. Area Terrain area/@very
(months) (months) difficult
Terrain
(months)
m 220 KV S/C Transmission line 26 32 36
n New 220 KV AC Sub-Station 24 27 30
o New 400 KV AC Sub-Station 30 33 36
p New 765 kV AC Sub-Station 36 40 $
Notes:
(i) In case a scheme having combination of the above mentioned types of projects,
the qualifying time schedule of the activity having maximum time period shall be
considered for the scheme as a whole.
(ii) In case a transmission line falls in plain as well as in hilly terrain/snow bound
area/very difficult terrain, the composite qualifying time schedule shall be
calculated giving proportional weightage to the line length falling in each area.
133
Appendix-II
Depreciation Schedule
Depreciation Rate
Sr. No. Asset Particulars
(Salvage Value=10%)
SLM
A Land under full ownership 0.00%
B Land under lease
(a) for investment in the land 3.34%
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f. Switchgear including cable connections 5.28%
g. Lightning arrestor
(i) Station type 5.28%
(ii) Pole type 5.28%
(iii) Synchronous condenser 5.28%
h. Batteries 5.28%
Underground cable including joint boxes and disconnected
(i) 5.28%
boxes
(ii) Cable duct system 5.28%
j. Meters 5.28%
o. Communication equipment
(i) Radio and high frequency carrier system 6.33%
(ii) Telephone lines and telephones 6.33%
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Appendix-III
1. Transmission system availability factor for a calendar month (TAFM) shall be calculated
by the respective transmission licensee, got verified by the concerned RLDC and certified
by the Member-Secretary, Regional Power Committee of the region concerned, separately
for each AC and HVDC transmission system and grouped according to sharing of
transmission charges. Transmission System Availability shall be calculated separately for
each Regional Transmission System and inter-regional transmission system. For the
purpose of calculation of TAFM:
i) AC transmission lines: Each circuit of AC transmission line shall be considered as
one element.
ii) Inter-Connecting Transformers (ICTs): Each ICT bank (three single phase
transformer together) shall form one element.
iii) Static VAR Compensator (SVC): SVC along with SVC transformer shall form one
element. However, 50% credit to inductive and 50% to capacitive rating shall be
given.
iv) Bus Reactors/Switchable line reactors: Each Bus Reactors/Switchable line reactors
shall be considered as one element.
v) HVDC Bi-pole links: Each pole of HVDC link along with associated equipment at
both ends shall be considered as one element.
vi) HVDC back-to-back station: Each block of HVDC back-to-back station shall be
considered as one element. If associated AC line (necessary for transfer of inter-
regional power through HVDC back-to-back station) is not available, the HVDC
back-to-back station block shall also be considered as unavailable.
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% TAFM for HVDC system
s X AVs + t X AVt
= ----------------------------------X 100
S+t
Where
o = Total number of AC lines.
AVo = Availability of o number of AC lines.
p = Total number of bus reactors/switchable line reactors
AVp = Availability of p number of bus reactors/switchable line reactors
q = Total number of ICTs.
AVq = Availability of q number of ICTs.
r = Total number of SVCs.
AVr = Availability of r number of SVCs.
s = Total number of HVDC poles
AVs = Availability of s number of HVDC poles
t = Total number of HVDC back-to-back station blocks
AVt = Availability of t number of HVDC back-to-back station blocks
3. The weightage factor for each category of transmission elements shall be as under:
(a) For each circuit of AC line Surge Impedance Loading for Uncompensated line (SIL)
multiplied by ckt-km.
SIL rating for various voltage level and conductor configuration is given in
Appendix-IV. However, for the voltage levels and/or conductor configurations
not listed in Annexure-I, appropriate SIL based on technical considerations may
be used for availability calculation under intimation to long-term transmission
customers/DICs.
For compensated AC line, Surge Impedance Loading (SIL) shall be as certified by the
Regional Power Committee (RPC) Secretariat considering the compensation on the
line.
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For shunt compensated line the reduced value of SIL shall be taken in accordance with
the location of the reactor. Similarly in case of the lines with series compensation the
higher SIL shall be taken as per the percentage of compensation.
4. The availability for each category of transmission elements shall be calculated based on
the weightage factor, total hours under consideration and non-available hours for each
element of that category. The formulae for calculation of Availability of each category of
the transmission elements are as per Appendix-V.
5. The transmission elements under outage due to following reasons shall be deemed to be
available:
i. Shut down availed for maintenance or construction of elements of another
transmission scheme. If the other transmission scheme belongs to the transmission
licensee, the Member-Secretary, RPC may restrict the deemed availability period to
that considered reasonable by him for the work involved.
ii. Switching off of a transmission line to restrict over voltage and manual tripping of
switched reactors as per the directions of RLDC.
6. Outage time of transmission elements for the following contingencies shall be excluded
from the total time of the element under period of consideration.
i. Outage of elements due to acts of God and force majeure events beyond the control
of the transmission licensee. However, onus of satisfying the Member Secretary, RPC
that element outage was due to aforesaid events and not due to design failure shall
rest with the transmission licensee. A reasonable restoration time for the element
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shall be considered in accordance with Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
(Standard of Performance of inter-State transmission licensees) Regulations, 2012 as
amended from time to time and any additional time taken by the transmission
licensee for restoration of the element beyond the reasonable time shall be treated as
outage time attributable to the transmission licensee. Circuits restored through ERS
(Emergency Restoration System) shall be considered as available.
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Appendix-IV
13 66 Single Dog 10
140
Appendix-V
s s
AVs(Availability of s no. of HVDC pole) = Wj(Tj -TNAj) Wj
j=1 Tj j=1
q q
AVq(Availability of q no. of ICTs) = Wk(Tk - TNAk) Wk
K=1 Tk k=1
r r
AVr(Availability of r no. of SVCs) = 0.5WIl (TIl-TNAIl) + 0.5 WCl(TCl ACl)
l=1 TIl l=1 TCl
r r
0.5WIl + 0.5 WCl
l=1 l=1
p p
AVp(Availability of p no. of Switched = Wm(Tm-TNAm) Wm
Bus reactors) m=1 Tm m=1
t t
AVt (Availability of t no. of HVDC = Wn(Tn-TNAn) Wn
Back-to-back Blocks) n=1 Tn n=1
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Where Wi = Weightage factor for ithtransmission line
Wj = Weightage factor for jth HVDC pole
Ti, Tj, Tk, TIl, TCl, - The total hours of ith AC line,jth HVDC pole, kth ICT, lth SVC
Tm&Tn (Inductive Operation), lth SVC (Capacitive Operation),mth Switched Bus
Reactor &nth HVDC back-to-back block during the period under
consideration (excluding time period for outages not attributable to
transmission licensee for reasons given in Para 6 of the procedure)
TNAi ,TNAj , TNAk - The non-availability hours (excluding the time period for outages
TNAIl, TNACl, TNAm, not attributable to transmission licensee taken as deemed availability as
TNAn per Para 5 of the procedure) for ithAC line, , jthHVDC pole, kthICT, lth SVC
(Inductive Operation), lth SVC (Capacitive Operation),mth Switched Bus
Reactor and nthHVDC back-to-back block .
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APPENDIX VI
It is to certify that the (Name of the Station) has fulfilled all the key provisions as
prescribed below in accordance with Regulation 4 of CERC (Terms and Conditions of
Tariff), Regulations, 2014.
3. The unit operating capability shall be in conformity to Regulation 7(1), 7(2), 7(3)
and 7(4) of the CEA Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and
Electric Lines Regulations 2010.
5. All requirements as per Regulation 9(2), 9(4), 9(9), 9(15), 9(16), 9(18) of the CEA
Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines
Regulations 2010 have been complied for the Steam Turbine Generator.
Name:
(CMD/CEO/MD)
143
(For Gas based Generating Stations)
It is to certify that the (Name of the Station) has fulfilled all the key provisions as
prescribed below in accordance with Regulation 4 of CERC (Terms and Conditions of
Tariff), Regulations, 2014.
4. All requirements as per Regulation 17 and Regulations 9(2), 9(4), 9(9), 9(15),
9(16), 9(18) of the CEA Technical Standards for Construction of Electric Plants
and Electric Lines Regulations 2010 have been complied for the Steam Turbine.
Name:
(CMD/CEO/MD)
144
(For Hydro based Generating Stations)
It is to certify that the (Name of the Station) has fulfilled all the key provisions as
prescribed below in accordance with Regulation 4 of CERC (Terms and Conditions of
Tariff), Regulations, 2014.
2. All requirements as per Regulation 30(1), 30(2) and 30(5) of the CEA Technical
Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines Regulations
2010 have been complied.
4. All requirements as per Regulation 33(6), 33(7), 33(8) of the CEA Technical
Standards for Construction of Electric Plants and Electric Lines Regulations 2010
have been complied for the hydraulic Turbine.
Name:
(CMD/CEO/MD)
145